The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) reports a fault in the AAE-1 submarine cable near Qatar, affecting one of the seven key undersea cables that link Pakistan to international internet traffic.
This incident could degrade internet and broadband experiences nationwide.
Teams are addressing the issue; PTA continues to monitor developments and will update telecom users as needed.
Initiated in 2017, the Africa-Asia-Europe (AAE)-1 cable connects countries across three continents: Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Pakistan, India, Oman, the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Greece, Italy, and France.
In 2024, cable malfunctions led to significant slowdowns and disruptions for Pakistan’s internet users. Despite accusations from businesses and internet providers that government surveillance efforts were to blame, the PTA clarified in August that the disruptions stemmed from cable faults.
Despite improvements, Pakistan still ranks among the nations with the slowest internet, as indicated by global speed tests in October.
On Wednesday, the Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology discussed concerns over internet service interruptions following directives from the interior ministry. The PTA chairman noted that such shutdowns have occurred since 2016 but was recently ruled illegal, awaiting a conclusive legal stance from the interior ministry.
