Internet services across Pakistan are expected to face potential disruption on January 15 as scheduled maintenance work is set to take place on one of the country’s submarine cables. Internet service provider Nayatel informed its customers through an email notification that an unavoidable maintenance activity has been planned for the afternoon, which may affect connectivity nationwide. The advisory has raised concerns among users who continue to rely heavily on stable internet access for work, education, and digital services.
According to the notification shared by Nayatel, the maintenance activity is scheduled to begin at around 2 PM on January 15 and may last for up to eight hours. During this period, users across the country could experience slower internet speeds and intermittent connectivity issues. The company stated that the work is unavoidable and warned that internet slowness may be observed across Pakistan while the activity is underway. Nayatel also expressed regret over the inconvenience but did not provide specific technical details regarding the nature or location of the maintenance work. No information was shared on whether the activity is related to a fault or a preventive maintenance requirement on the submarine cable infrastructure.
Pakistan relies heavily on multiple submarine cables for international internet bandwidth, making such maintenance activities significant for overall network performance. Any work on these cables can have a cascading impact on internet service providers, enterprises, and end users across the country. While redundancy mechanisms are in place through multiple upstream links, maintenance on a single cable can still result in congestion and reduced speeds, particularly during peak usage hours. The lack of detailed disclosure regarding which cable is affected has left users and businesses preparing for possible service degradation during the scheduled window. PTA has not issued a separate advisory at the time of the announcement, and no confirmation has been provided on whether alternative routing arrangements will fully offset the impact.
If internet speeds are affected as anticipated, this will mark the second instance of notable connectivity issues in Pakistan within a span of two weeks. On January 1, 2026, users across the country reported widespread internet disruption caused by a problem in one of Pakistan’s upstream providers. During that incident, internet services remained degraded for more than two days, affecting businesses, remote workers, online education platforms, and digital service providers. The recurrence of connectivity challenges in a short period has renewed discussion around the resilience of Pakistan’s international connectivity infrastructure and the importance of timely communication around maintenance activities. While planned maintenance is a routine part of managing submarine cable systems, its impact on a digitally dependent population remains significant, particularly when alternatives are limited during the maintenance window.
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