Service providers in Pakistan make alternate arrangements for internet connectivity

In the aftermath of the massive disruption in internet services due to a fault in a significant submarine cable earlier this week, service providers in Pakistan are scrambling to make alternate arrangements by obtaining additional bandwidth to ensure that internet services are provided smoothly across the nation.

The Trans World Associates (TWA) had earlier communicated service degradation on the international connectivity towards Europe on SMW5 cable system due to subsea fault near Abu Talat, Egypt.

It said that work was underway to rectify the fault; however, it would take some time until the fault was removed completely.

Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) is monitoring the situation and will continue to update on it.

Pakistan has been listed amongst the top ten countries with the biggest share of internet users in Asia 2020 according to a report published by Statista.

The geographic analysis of the audience showed that China accounted for 37.1 per cent of internet users in Asia as of May 2020, followed by India with 24.3 per cent. Pakistan came in at sixth position on the chart with 3.1 per cent internet users.

The spike can be attributed to increased online activities by educational institutions and businesses and, ‘work from home’ policy adopted by individuals and organisations, according to a Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) press release.