August 25, 2022 – Internet users in Pakistan are expected to face more outages in the coming days due to operations to drain out floodwater after heavy rains, according to a technical report submitted by the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) to the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT) on Wednesday.
The ministry had sought reports from PTCL and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on the recent disruptions in internet services across the country.
The disruptions were first reported on August 19 when a number of users from various cities complained about internet outages and slow speed on Twitter, prompting statements from both PTA and PTCL. The disruptions were caused by a technical fault in the fibre-optic cables due to heavy rains and floods.
Although the fault was removed hours later, users reported internet outages again this week. The recent reports suggest, however, that more outages are expected in the coming days.
“Due to extensive flooding, most of the pathways of underground cables have been submerged, as relief workers or locals were trying to divert floodwater by digging trenches on roads and footpaths,” IT Minister Syed Aminul Haque told Dawn.
He said that PTCL has been directed by the ministry to declare an emergency so that repair operations can be started when any such incident is reported in the system. The PTA, on the other hand, is monitoring the quality of service, the minister added.
