ISLAMABAD: Internet users in Pakistan could face service disruptions after a fault was reported in undersea cables near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) said on Saturday.
According to a PTCL Group spokesperson, an undersea internet cable fault has occurred near Jeddah. Due to this, Pakistani users may experience a drop in service quality during peak hours.
“The fault has partially affected bandwidth on the South Asia-Middle East-West Asia (SMW4) and IMEWE (India-Middle East-Western Europe) submarine cable systems, due to which Pakistani users may experience a slight decline in service quality during peak hours,” the spokesperson said.
PTCL Group has assured that its international partner organizations are prioritizing the issue and working to resolve it. “We are grateful to our customers for their patience and understanding,” the PTCL Group spokesperson added.
PTCL’s local teams are also arranging alternate bandwidth to minimize the impact on users.
Damage to undersea cables has occurred in the past, hindering services in Pakistan. In January of this year, a fault had been reported in the submarine cable AAE-1 near Qatar leading to internet and broadband services being harmed. The Africa-Asia-Europe (AAE)-1 cable had been victim to multiple faults in 2024, causing internet disruptions.
