Internet services remain disrupted across Pakistan since Tuesday due to a technical glitch in international submarine cables that connect the country with the outside world. Users across the country have experienced downgraded speeds.
“We regret to inform you that due to international submarine cable fault, internet services are impacted across Pakistan. Our technical teams are working on fully restoring internet services", said Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) in a tweet while apologising for the inconvenience and thanking people for being patient.
We regret to inform you that due to international submarine cable fault, internet services are impacted across Pakistan.
— PTCL (@PTCLOfficial) October 29, 2019
Our technical teams are working on fully restoring internet services. We apologize for any inconvenience caused and thank you for your patience. pic.twitter.com/PGh1r6OGB8
The telecom authority PTCL along with international organisations was working to ascertain the location where the fault had developed.
According to news website ProPakistani, two submarine cables IMEWE and SEAMEWE 4, which carry almost 50% of Pakistan’s internet traffic, went offline due to a fault.
In an update, the website wrote that a third submarine cable system, AAE-1, also went down partially due to severe flapping. PTCL, however, refuted such claims on Twitter.
This is to update that submarine cable AAE1 was never down during the recent outage as misreported in certain quarters. Please always refer to PTCL's official media team to obtain factual information.
— PTCL (@PTCLOfficial) October 29, 2019
Some Twitter users said they have been experiencing poor internet service for days, while others wanted compensation in their bills.
so you have to compensate it in my bills! because from last 5 days i ve facing this shit!
— مُزَمِّل (@muxammalusman) October 29, 2019
This happens every year . I remember yall saying this last year and the year before that . Get better lines ffs or compensate this in the bill
— ⚰ Marwan • 1 Year Of Expectations (@marwan2002__) October 29, 2019
ha ha ha you clever duds same like others using speed throttling to minimize the impact of protest i thought only iran dos that
— bashir durrani (@bashirdurrani1) October 29, 2019
Although PTCL later sent out an update that the cable fault had been fixed and the internet had been restored, users continued complaining about not being able to use the internet.
Netizens also thought the "Azadi March" organised by the party Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazal (JUI-F) and anti-government protests could be behind the disrupted internet services.
Who gives a damn about cable “code”. Whether it’s SMW4, IMEWE, AAE1 or some ABCD crap, the bottom line is that ‘Internet Is Still Not Working’.
— ᏁᏗᏰᏕ (@Nabs0011) October 30, 2019
Yes we know its due to azadi march🤪
— Abdulrauf (@mdrAbdulrauf) October 30, 2019
Which statement is correct? pic.twitter.com/k8m5yhO1Zx
— Javaid Akbar (@JavaidAkbar3) October 30, 2019
Our team is still working on this, Umair. We hope to get this fully resolved real soon :)
— PTCL (@PTCLOfficial) October 29, 2019
Attracting thousands of people, including seminary students, the anti-government "Azadi March" (Freedom March), which started on Sunday afternoon from the port city of Karachi towards Islamabad had reached Lahore (about 376 km away) on Tuesday.
