PTA Struggles to Monitor Surge in WhatsApp and Facebook Users, Leading to Nationwide Slowdowns

Recent slowdowns have significantly impacted Meta’s popular social networks, Facebook and WhatsApp, as the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) struggles to handle the heavy user demand.

With an estimated 50 million Pakistani users of Facebook, these specific Social Media platforms experience more noticeable slowdowns compared to the others,as reported by PTA officials.

The PTA officials said that these disruptions stemmed from issues with two large submarine cables. SMW4 cable was affected in June 2024, deleting about 1.5 terabytes per second. Another technical breakdown of the AAE-1 cable system was another setback that lowered the capacity by 0.25 terabytes per second. During peak times, users were advised of slower speeds, and telecom operators redirected traffic to alternative routes to reduce the impact.

In August, an increase in complaints about disruptions in WhatsApp services led the PTA to urge telecom operators to address the issue. Another press release on August 22^nd  informed the public of ongoing efforts to resolve the issue. By mid-August, some improvements were noticed and by early September, the service quality on Facebook and WhatsApp was significantly restored.

Officials assured the National Assembly that the SMW4 cable is expected to be fully repaired by October 2024, which should bring network performance back to normal.