The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has identified a fault in a submarine cable as the cause of the recent internet disruptions in Pakistan.
PTA Chairman Hafiz Rahman explained this during a briefing to the Standing Committee on Information Technology, chaired by Syed Aminul Haque.
During the session, Syed Aminul Haque urged the PTA chairman to publicly disclose the reasons behind the internet issues and confirm whether a firewall system was in operation.
Chairman Rahman detailed that Pakistan receives 7.5 terabits of data through multiple cables, pinpointing that a single submarine cable fault disrupted this flow. He noted that among the seven fibre optic cables serving Pakistan, one had sustained damage, with repairs anticipated by August 27.
Read: IT Minister Shaza Fatima Blames VPN Usage for Internet Slowdown in Pakistan
Committee members raised concerns about using Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) and their effects on local internet services. In response, Rahman reiterated that the disruption was localized to Pakistan’s cable infrastructure and was not a global issue.
Contrastingly, Shaza Fatima, Minister of State for IT, previously attributed the disruption to the widespread use of VPNs, especially following restrictions on certain services which pushed more users towards VPNs, purportedly degrading network performance.
Furthermore, it is critical to note that the ongoing internet service issues in Pakistan are also tied to the deployment of internet firewalls at major internet gateways. These systems are designed to monitor and filter web traffic, and while they block or control content, they also enable authorities to trace the origins of objectionable material.
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