Internet users across Pakistan are facing a compounding connectivity crisis as ongoing submarine cable maintenance overlaps with the return of scheduled evening power outages, creating a particularly difficult combination for households, freelancers, and businesses that depend on stable connectivity during peak hours. Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited announced scheduled maintenance on the SMW4, or South East Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 4, cable system operated by an international consortium, with work set to take place from April 14 to April 20. The company cautioned that users may experience slower internet speeds and intermittent connectivity, particularly during evening hours, while the work is underway.
Internet services are expected to be severely affected during evening hours, particularly at the same time as power outages, with users around the country already having faced significant difficulties since the disruptions began. The timing is particularly problematic because evening hours represent peak usage across the country, when streaming, social media activity, video calls, remote work, and online classes all surge simultaneously. With one of the major cables under repair, the remaining bandwidth is stretched thinner, leading to congestion and slower speeds, with fewer data routes handling more traffic.
The repair work affects one of the South East Asia-Middle East-Western Europe family submarine cable systems, infrastructure that carries a substantial portion of the country’s international internet traffic. While the disruption is unlikely to cause complete outages for most users, streaming services, video calls, and large file transfers may be significantly affected during evening hours, and some private internet service providers that rely on PTCL’s infrastructure or the same submarine cable systems are also expected to face service degradation. PTCL has advised users to schedule bandwidth-intensive activities including large downloads, uploads, and video conferencing during morning hours or non-peak times where possible.
The situation underscores a structural vulnerability in Pakistan’s internet infrastructure. With over 117 million internet users in Pakistan as of late 2025, representing 45.6 percent penetration, even minor disruptions can affect daily digital activities on a massive scale. Pakistan relies on a handful of undersea cables for international connectivity, making it vulnerable to outages and maintenance-related slowdowns. Each time one cable goes down, even temporarily, the pressure shifts to others, often resulting in degraded performance nationwide. Users have been advised to monitor official PTCL and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority channels for updates on repair progress and estimated completion timelines.
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