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August 26, 2024

Timeline for full restoration of internet services revealed amid mounting pressure

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Timeline for full restoration of internet services revealed amid mounting pressure

Internet users in Pakistan will continue to experience disruptions in service, despite the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority's (PTA) deadline for resolution passing without a full fix.

As the country enters its 21st day of slow internet, officials have indicated that a complete restoration of services will require more time. The PTA has attributed the slow speeds primarily to faults in two of the country's seven submarine cables.

The re-routing of the AAE-1 cable is expected to be completed within a day or two, which may lead to some improvement in internet services. However, the repair of the SMW4 cable will take several more weeks to finish.

Officials have further stated that full restoration of internet services can only be achieved once repairs to the second submarine cable are completed. Until then, users across the country will continue to face slow internet speeds and intermittent connectivity issues, impacting the overall internet experience.

4 reasons for internet slowdown according to PTA

On Wednesday, during a meeting of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on IT , PTA Chairman Retired Major General Hafeezur Rehman faced tough questioning from NA members over widespread complaints about internet slowdowns across the country.

He outlined four issues that are causing the slowdown.

The first issue stemmed from the cutting of the SMW4 submarine cable, which has been out of operation for about a month. This disruption reduced the inland internet capacity by 1.5 terabits per second, significantly impacting overall service.

In a separate incident, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) reported a 70% decline in internet services, which was traced back to a major internet service provider (ISP) that made a severe misconfiguration in their core network. As a result, stern action was taken against those responsible, leading to the dismissal of three senior technical managers at the ISP.

Another significant issue occurred on August 15, when the PTA observed a severe degradation of around 1.5 terabits per second in internet traffic entering the country. The PTA noted that this date coincided with the Indian National Day, and later investigations suggested that the drop might have been caused by a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. The authority also pointed out that Indian state actors have been active in the past, particularly on national days like August 14, to degrade internet services or deface government websites.

Lastly, the PTA attributed slower internet speeds to the increased use of VPNs during this period. The authority explained that the inherent encryption, tunneling, and extended routing of data packets associated with VPNs contributed to the slow internet response experienced by users.

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