PTCL blames submarine cable fault for slow internet

The Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) has announced that an international submarine cable outage is causing slow internet speeds for its users.

"Teams are working diligently to resolve the matter as soon as possible. We sincerely apologi[s]e for any inconvenience caused during this time," the company said in a statement on Friday.

Pakistan has been grappling with slow internet since last year, with the government consistently blaming submarine cable faults, while reports hint at possible experimentation with a "firewall" by authorities.

The internet slowdown has been especially hard for freelancers, which are more than two million and contribute to the country's growth.

PTCL's statement came a day after the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said that internet and broadband users may experience disruptions as submarine cable AAE-1 near Qatar developed a fault.

The PTA said that a fault has been reported in the submarine cable AAE-1 near Qatar — one of the seven international undersea cables connecting Pakistan for international internet traffic.

"The concerned teams are working to fix the fault. The PTA is monitoring the situation and will keep updating telecom users accordingly," it added.

Not only have the courts been moved against slow internet as well as social media disruptions, but the government's allies have also expressed dismay over the persistent issues inside and outside the parliament.

In a swipe at his ally, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto questioned why fish seem to target only Pakistan's undersea fibre optic cables.

According to a list issued by Ookla Speedtest Global Index, Pakistan was ranked 100 out of 111 countries in mobile internet speeds with a download speed of 20.61Mbps and upload speed of 8.53Mbps.

Meanwhile, the index ranked the country at 141 out of 158 countries in broadband speeds with a download speed of 15.60Mbps and upload speed of 15.53Mbps.