The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Information Technology, chaired by Syed Aminul Haque, has expressed serious concern over the ongoing internet slowdown in Pakistan following the disruption of multiple submarine cables. During a detailed briefing, officials confirmed that several key undersea systems off the coast of Yemen have been damaged, severely affecting connectivity and service quality within Pakistan. Committee members pressed the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication to explain why users continue to face degraded speeds despite earlier assurances about improving infrastructure and bringing new cables online.
IT and Telecom Secretary Zarrar Hasham Khan informed the committee that four to five submarine cables, including major systems like SMW4 and IMEWE, have been damaged near Yemen due to the regional situation. He clarified that two of these cables directly connected to Pakistan have been impacted, forcing telecom operators to reroute significant amounts of bandwidth through alternative paths to keep services running. This rerouting, while necessary to maintain connectivity, has resulted in slower speeds and higher latency for users across the country. The secretary stressed that the incident underscores how vulnerable global internet infrastructure remains to geopolitical tensions and accidental damage.
According to the IT Secretary, repairing the damaged submarine cables requires specialized vessels and highly technical work, a process expected to take at least four to five weeks before full capacity can be restored. He highlighted that such repairs are complex, involve multiple international stakeholders, and cannot be expedited without coordinating across different jurisdictions. The disruption has drawn renewed attention to Pakistan’s dependence on a limited number of undersea routes for its internet traffic, raising questions about the country’s preparedness for such emergencies and the need for diversified gateways.
Committee member Sadiq Memon raised further concerns about the impact of these outages, noting that connectivity disruptions have continued even after announcements about three new submarine cables expected to link Pakistan to Europe within the next 12 to 18 months. Ministry officials responded that while the upcoming cables will significantly boost bandwidth and improve redundancy, they are still under development and cannot alleviate the current situation. They assured the committee that every effort is being made to manage available capacity and mitigate the impact on consumers and businesses until repairs are complete. The Standing Committee emphasized the importance of improving resilience in Pakistan’s digital infrastructure and directed the ministry to keep lawmakers updated on repair timelines and progress of the new cable projects.
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