Telecom Operators in Pakistan Warn Gov't About Internet Shutdown Due to Power Outages

The South Asian country is currently seeing long hours of unscheduled power cuts, forcing people to hit the streets. Last week, there were protests in prominent cities like Karachi, Peshawar and Multan. Earlier, leading telecom firms also warned that services would be disrupted if the blackout continued.
Sputnik
The telecom operators in Pakistan told the government Thursday about shuttinf down internet and mobile services in the country if the power outage continues.

Taking to Twitter, the National Information Technology Board (NIBT) wrote: “Telecom operators in Pakistan have warned about shutting down mobile and internet services due to long hours of power outages nationwide, as the interruption is causing issues and hindrance in their operations.”

Earlier this week, the telecom authorities also wrote a letter to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) stressing the challenges faced by the sector due to “unplanned and prolonged load-shedding nationwide.”
“Despite having backup power available in the form of generators and batteries, cellular operators are finding it almost impossible to cope with the quantum of these power outages that are beyond our dimensioned backup capacity,” leading cellular mobile operators Jazz, Telenor, Ufone and PTCL said in a letter.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) had imposed a 100 percent cash margin restriction on the import of telecom equipment, including batteries, servers, and routers. Moreover, amid the heatwave this year, Pakistan failed to buy the required liquefied natural gas (LNG) for power generation.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif warned the country that they might face increased load shedding in the coming month of July, Geo News reported.
In June, the government restricted the working hours of malls and markets, cut the working hours of government officials and factories, etc.
According to Pakistani Dawn newspaper, the country saw a massive shortfall — up to 9,000 MW on Tuesday, when people in most of Pakistan's cities experienced extensive brownouts.
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