People in neighboring country Pakistan may have to wait longer for high-speed internet. During this time, Pakistanis will neither be able to enjoy entertainment on OTT platforms nor will they be able to easily chat on WhatsApp and upload or download videos there. Pakistan’s Telecommunication Authority said on Wednesday that internet speed across the country is likely to remain slow till early October. This is because the cable passing under the sea has been damaged and its repair work is being hampered.
A report in Pakistan’s popular newspaper Dawn said that the internet speed has seen a significant drop in the last few weeks and users are facing difficulties in sending or downloading videos from WhatsApp when connected to mobile data. The report said that Pakistanis are also facing slow browsing speed on broadband.
Pakistan’s business community and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have blamed the government’s attempts to monitor internet traffic. The ISPs say they have suffered financial losses due to the so-called ‘firewall’. However, Pakistan’s Information Technology Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja has categorically denied reports of the government blocking and disrupting the internet. The leader of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) confirmed that the government is upgrading its “web management system” to deal with cyber security threats.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) blamed faulty submarine cables for the internet slowdown last week and dismissed fears that the state was installing a firewall. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the PTA said the drop in internet speed was caused by two submarine cables, one of which is still to be repaired. “The ongoing internet slowdown across the country is primarily due to the fault in two (SMW4, AAE-1) out of the seven international submarine cables connecting Pakistan internationally,” the PTA said.
The telecom authority said, “Efforts are being made to rectify the faults and problems in the SMW-4 submarine cable by early October 2024.” The PTA has also informed that the submarine cable AAE-1 has been repaired, which may improve internet speeds.