ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will lay three new submarine Internet cables this year in a bid to transform digital connectivity, expand bandwidth capacity and support the rollout of 5G services, state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported this week.
Officials say the addition of new submarine cables will expand bandwidth, improve reliability and strengthen Pakistan’s ability to integrate with global data flows. The government also hopes the upgrade will accelerate the rollout of 5G services and attract investment in digital industries ranging from e-commerce to financial technology.
“This initiative will not only boost Internet speed but also ensure reliability, reduce service outages, and unlock broader economic potential,” Federal Minister for Information Technology Shaza Fatima Khawaja was quoted by Radio Pakistan as saying.
The new cables are expected to reduce dependence on older, outage-prone systems such as AAE-1 and SMW-4 and position Pakistan more strongly in global digital networks, according to the broadcaster.
Pakistan has over 150 million Internet subscribers, most of them mobile broadband users, making it one of the largest online markets in the world.
But connectivity remains inconsistent. The country has faced repeated cable faults that disrupt bandwidth nationwide, while limited fiber penetration slows the growth of digital services.
Civil society groups also point out that frequent government-ordered Internet shutdowns, often imposed during protests or security operations, have undermined confidence in the digital economy. Rights activists say such disruptions cost billions of rupees in lost productivity and erode freedom of expression online.
The government denies it uses Internet shutdowns as a tool or censorship.
