ISLAMABAD – Mobile broadband services are being restored, a Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) official announced late Friday.
In a statement, the country’s telecom regulator said the internet services are being restored on the directives from the Ministry of Interior.
The development comes at least four days after the federal government revoked all internet services in Pakistan in the wake of clashes after the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan.
Amid the clashes, the country’s telecom regulator said the services have been revoked for an indefinite period on the interior ministry’s instructions as violent clashes have broken out between security forces and supporters of PTI.
Earlier, millions lamented the dillema and were desperately looking to reconnect while they rely on internet-dependent services; the suspension caused faced financial losses, whereas telecom officials remain tight-lipped about the revival of internet.
The South Asian country is already ranked among the world’s worst nations in terms of Internet access, the recent outage was no less than chaotic development. The internet suspension even makes Pakistanis toothless to grab any work on the freelance work platform ‘Fiverr’ which cautioned clients about the unavailability of the internet. Daily wagers, who work on online services like Careem, and FoodPanda remained in dire straits.
Internet disruptions also impacted Pakistani startups, digital creators, and online education projects as well.
Besides the mobile broadband, social media sites including Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook are not working for users as people are unable to connect on social platforms.