Karachi: In a positive development for Pakistani Internet users who have been plagued by intermittent problems on the Internet in recent times, the Africa–1 submarine cable has connected to the country’s internet infrastructure.
The 10,000 -km long Internet cable with a high data transmission capacity, which links Pakistan with Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt and France, has connected with the Limited exchange of the Telecommunications Company of Pakistan (PTCL) .
The PTCL announced this milestone in a notice to the Pakistan Stock Exchange, highlighting an inauguration ceremony on Saturday to officially connect to the high capacity cable.
“The innovative celebration to connect to the high capacity Africa-1 submarine cable is scheduled for February 22, 2025, on the landing site of Pakistan Telecommunication Company (PTCL) in Sea View, Karachi,” read the notification.
“This marks a transformative milestone in the advance of Pakistan digital connectivity.”
The investment for the Africa-1 initiative was approved by the PTCL Board of Directors in November 2020, worth $ 59.5 million.
“This project aims to establish connectivity between the EAU, Europe and Africa, with multiple landing stations along the route,” added the notice.
PTCL revealed that he began investing in the project as part of its capital expenditure (CAPEX) from 2021 and pointed out that “by 2025, approximately 75% of the total investment will have been completed for four years, with the expectation of reaching the complete cost of the project within the year “.
According to PTCL, the project is expected to be ready for service (RFS) for the first quarter of 2026.
Once it is in operation, the Africa-1 submarine cable will allow PTCL to generate revenues from the project, contributing positively to the company’s first line growth.
All these developments come in the midst of frequent interruptions on the Internet in the country.
Last month, the President of the Telecommunications Authority of Pakistan (PTA) Major General (R) Hafeez Ur Rehman informed the Permanent Committee for Information and Telecommunications Technology of the National Assembly that four new submarine cables were being introduced to improve the Internet performance of the country.
