PTCL Dismisses Internet Disruption Rumors Amid Submarine Cable Cut
In recent days, the stability of Pakistan’s internet infrastructure has come under increased scrutiny following a series of disruptions and a submarine cable cut. The Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) on April 27 denied any disruption in its internet traffic after reports emerged that the underwater fiber-optic cable, South East Asia–Middle East–Western Europe 5 (SEA-ME-WE 5), connecting Singapore to Pakistan and Europe, was cut.
A PTCL spokesperson told Geo News: “PTCL’s traffic is not affected due to submarine cable cut.”
The spokesperson clarified that internet traffic in Pakistan remains normal and unaffected because the cable is not part of PTCL’s network infrastructure. They emphasized that PTCL’s network is functioning optimally with “no service interruption.”
However, sources within the telecom sector told Geo News that they have observed packet drops, as well as slow browsing and streaming, since April 22. The issue is believed to be linked to a cut in the SEA-ME-WE 5 cable near Indonesia, which caused five cuts on the fiber-optic submarine cable. These disruptions may take time to fully recover.
Internet service coming from the eastern direction is affected due to the cut in the optic fiber cable. PTCL and Transworld’s eastbound traffic is affected. The internet traffic coming from the eastern direction is now less than 10%, with the affected traffic being shifted to alternate channels.
The recent cable cut follows a temporary internet service disruption on April 9, affecting users across Pakistan, with outages starting around 11:35 am. Primary service providers impacted included PTCL, Nayatel, and Transworld Home, with major cities such as Lahore, Karachi, Rawalpindi, and Peshawar reporting connectivity issues.
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