ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s telecom regulator said on Saturday it had arranged temporary bandwidth to address degraded Internet services caused by a fault in the Asia-Africa-Europe-1 (AAE-1) submarine cable, ensuring Internet stability across the country.
The AAE-1 cable is one of seven international undersea cables connecting Pakistan to the global Internet. Disruptions in these cables can significantly impact Internet performance, affecting individual users and businesses reliant on stable connectivity for daily operations.
“The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) announces that to address the issue of degradation of Internet services due to fault in AAE1 submarine cable on January 2, 2025, ad hoc bandwidth has been arranged and added in the system,” the PTA said in a statement. “Now there is no degradation of Internet services across the country.”
The telecom regulator added it was actively monitoring restoration efforts for the AAE-1 cable and remained committed to ensuring stable services throughout the process.
The fault comes amid growing scrutiny of the Pakistan government’s handling of Internet and social media policies.
Following the February 2024 general elections, marred by allegations of irregularities, the government faced severe backlash over a ban on X, formerly known as Twitter. Local media also reported the government’s decision to establish an Internet firewall aimed at controlling “anti-state propaganda” and content deemed blasphemous, stirring further controversy.
Freelancers and businesses were also instructed later in the year to register VPNs to access online platforms, prompting public outrage, though the government extended the compliance deadline indefinitely since only a fraction of users had adhered to the directive.
Digital rights activists and political rivals accused the government of using these measures to suppress dissent, with a coalition partner, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), also voicing concerns.
PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari criticized the government for Internet slowdown, questioning why submarine cable faults always disproportionately affected Pakistan.
Pakistan arranges temporary bandwidth to counter Internet slowdown amid submarine cable fault
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Pakistan arranges temporary bandwidth to counter Internet slowdown amid submarine cable fault
- The country’s telecom regulator says there is no Internet service degradation is in the country currently
- Digital rights activists say government trying to suppress dissenting voices by minimizing online access
Security forces kill nine Pakistani Taliban militants in restive northwest, military says
- The militants were killed in separate operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Dera Ismail Khan and Bannu districts
- Pakistan this week summoned Afghanistan’s deputy head of mission to demand action against the Pakistani Taliban
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan security forces have killed nine Pakistani Taliban militants in two separate engagements in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, the military said on Sunday, amid a surge in militancy in the region bordering Afghanistan.
Four militants were killed in an intelligence-based operation in KP's Dera Ismail Khan, while five other Pakistani Taliban members were gunned in an exchange of fire with security forces in the Bannu district, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military's media wing.
Weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the deceased "Indian-sponsored" militants, who remained actively involved in numerous activities against security forces and law enforcement agencies and target killing of civilians. There was no immediate response from India to the statement.
"Sanitization operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Indian sponsored kharja [militant] found in the area," the ISPR said in a statement. "Pakistan will continue at full pace to wipe out menace of foreign sponsored and supported terrorism from the country."
KP has seen a surge in militancy in recent years, with the Pakistani Taliban, or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and other militant groups frequently targeting security forces convoys and check-posts, besides targeted killings and kidnappings of law enforcers and government officials.
Pakistan this week summoned Afghanistan’s deputy head of mission and demanded “decisive action” against the TTP after four Pakistani soldiers were killed in an attack on a military camp in KP’s North Waziristan district that also killed four assailants, according to the Pakistani foreign office.
Islamabad has long accused Kabul of allowing its soil and India of backing militant groups, including the TTP, for attacks against Pakistan. Kabul and New Delhi have consistently denied this.
The uptick in militant violence triggered fierce clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan in Oct. The two countries agreed to a ceasefire in Doha on Oct. 19, but tensions remain high between the neighbors.
