The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) said it is closely monitoring internet traffic disruptions caused by a failure in the SEA-ME-WE 5 (SMW5) international submarine cable system.
In a statement, the authority said that “some internet users may experience intermittent degradation in quality of service and connectivity due to the outage.”
The authority further said that Transworld Associates (TWA) is coordinating with the SMW5 consortium to identify the root cause of the fault and determine the Estimated Time to Restoration (ETTR).
“In the meantime, Internet traffic is being redirected to other international links in order to minimize the impact and ensure continuity of service to the greatest extent possible,” the PTA said.
“PTA remains in close coordination with relevant stakeholders and will continue to monitor the situation to facilitate the earliest possible restoration of normal internet services across the country,” the statement added.
In May this year, Minister of Information Technology and Telecommunications, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, informed the National Assembly that prolonged and repeated power outages across the country were among the main causes of slow internet services and deteriorating quality of telecommunications.
In her written responses to the National Assembly, Shaza Fatima Khawaja said the unreliability of commercial electricity and reliance on solar systems, particularly during shorter winter days, reduced backup resources and operational capacity of telecommunications sites.
Difficult terrain, severe weather conditions, security concerns and access restrictions have delayed maintenance, while fiber optic outages, link interruptions and theft of equipment have further affected service continuity.
The minister said Pakistan’s international connectivity had improved with the landing of three submarine cables in recent years. She said fiber optic connectivity had grown significantly nationally, while fiber-based home connections had increased from 1.9 million in 2024 to 5.1 million in two years.
