A fault in one of the international underwater cables, the SMW4, has been recorded, resulting in degraded internet access in the country.
Sources specified that fault occurred in the eastern segment, however, the exact location of the fault is yet to be ascertained.
After this the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTCL) started to shift internet traffic to other cables. Standard arrangements to provide uninterrupted internet services to the users have been futile so far, with eastbound traffic impacted heavily due to pending issues that are still unresolved.
Southeast Asia–Middle East–Western Europe 4 (SEA-ME-WE 4) is an optical fiber submarine communications cable system that carries telecommunications between Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Egypt, Italy, Tunisia, Algeria, and France. According to sources, Pakistan’s total bandwidth capacity has been reduced by roughly 20% as a result of the submarine cable fault.
The situation is being monitored by the relevant authorities, and PTA has urged PTCL to increase capacity on other cables to combat slow internet services in Pakistan. Resolving the issue might take hours, days, or weeks, internet users across the country are expected to experience slower internet speeds.
