KARACHI – A fault in one of the international submarine cables has been reported in the sea near Karachi affecting some internet traffic in peak hours across Pakistan.
However, alternate arrangements to provide uninterrupted internet services to the users have been made by relevant service providers through obtaining additional bandwidth and capacity to meet the requirements, said Pakistan Telecommunication Authority in a statement.
“Work is underway to remove the fault which may take some time to rectify. Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has directed operators to ensure uninterrupted #internet services through alternate routes,” it added.
Work is underway to remove the fault which may take some time to rectify. Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has directed operators to ensure uninterrupted #internet services through alternate routes.
— PTA (@PTAofficialpk) December 21, 2021
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) in a statement said that it has “arranged for alternative channels for bandwidth” to restore internet traffic to normal.
“With reference to AAE-1 ( Asia-Africa-Europe-1) international submarine cable cut, we have arranged alternate channels for bandwidth to meet the requirement of internet usage in Pakistan,” it said.
PTCL said that the move had “resulted in improved customer experience, without any major impact on services [due to the cable cut]”.
The AAE-1 is a 25,000km consortium cable system that connects South East Asia to Europe via Egypt.
It connects Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, with Malaysia and Singapore, then onwards to Myanmar, India, Pakistan, Oman, the UAE, Qatar, Yemen, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Greece, Italy and France.
The PTCL said that it would further increase the bandwidth capacity in next few days to address the issues being faced by consumers.
“However, customers might face slight service degradation across the country till the addition of more bandwidth,” it added.
