ISLAMABAD:
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has reported a fault in the AAE-1 submarine cable near Qatar (one of the seven international submarine cables connecting Pakistan for international Internet traffic).
According to a press release, this may affect the experience of internet and broadband users across Pakistan.
The affected teams are working to fix the bug. The PTA is monitoring the situation and will continue to inform telecom users accordingly.
The Africa-Asia-Europe (AAE)-1 cable, which began operations in 2017, connects Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Pakistan, India, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Greece, Italy and France .
However, cable failures caused Internet users in Pakistan to experience frequent slowdowns and outages in 2024. While companies and Internet providers alleged that the government’s attempts to monitor Internet traffic were responsible, the PTA issued a statement in August attributing the slowdown to a glitch. submarine cable.
Pakistan has some of the slowest internet in the world despite an improvement in average fixed and mobile broadband speeds in October, according to global speed test data.
On Wednesday. Members of the Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology expressed concern over the practice of shutting down internet services, particularly after receiving directives from the Ministry of Home Affairs.
However, the PTA president responded that such closures had been a recurring problem since 2016, but were recently deemed illegal, adding that the Ministry of the Interior must provide final legal opinions on the matter.
