Internet services across Pakistan are expected to remain slow until “early October,” according to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA). On Wednesday, the PTA announced that repairs on the submarine cable responsible for ongoing disruptions would likely be completed by then.
Internet speeds have declined significantly in recent weeks, with users facing difficulties in sending or downloading media and voice notes on WhatsApp while using mobile data and experiencing slow browsing speeds even on broadband.
The business community and internet service providers (ISPs) have blamed the slowdown on government efforts to monitor internet traffic, including implementing a so-called “firewall,” resulting in economic losses. Meanwhile, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Pakistan’s IT minister, confirmed that the government was upgrading its “web management system” to address cyber security threats, but denied any intentional throttling of internet speeds.
Last week, the PTA attributed the slowdown to a fault in two submarine cables and dismissed concerns about a state-imposed firewall. In a statement released today, the PTA clarified that the reduced internet speeds were mainly due to faults in two of the seven international submarine cables (SMW4 and AAE-1) connecting Pakistan globally. The authority added that while the AAE-1 cable has been repaired, the SMW-4 cable is expected to be fixed by early October 2024.
A week earlier, PTA Chairman Hafeezur Rehman, a retired major general, told a National Assembly panel that the damaged cable would be repaired by August 27. The chairman’s statement drew scrutiny from lawmakers from both the government and the opposition.
Amnesty International has called for greater transparency from Pakistani authorities regarding the internet slowdown and the use of monitoring and surveillance technologies.
Doug Madory, an internet expert, supported the PTA’s claim about the submarine cable faults, noting a reduction in Pakistan’s internet capacity due to the SMW-4 cable failure on June 17. However, he pointed out that if the issues began only recently, other factors might be contributing to the slowdown.
The PTA has listed four reasons for the slowdown in its response to the Lahore High Court: the damaged submarine cable, a misconfiguration in an ISP’s system, possible cyber-attacks on August 15, and increased use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). The government has also cited the increased use of VPNs, spurred by a prolonged ban on social media platform X.
Earlier this month, the PTA announced plans to regulate VPN use through an automated whitelisting process to ensure the “smooth and secure functioning of IT services and online businesses.”
The economic impact of the slowdown could be severe. The Telecom Operators Association warned that sluggish internet services could cost Pakistan nearly Rs12 billion annually, with an additional loss of over Rs3 billion due to reduced telecom sector revenue. The Pakistan Business Council (PBC) also noted that several multinational companies were considering relocating their back offices from Pakistan. Furthermore, the Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) estimated that internet disruptions caused by the imposition of a national firewall could cost the economy up to $300 million.
