Torrential rains across Sindh, particularly in Karachi, have severely disrupted telecommunications, leaving thousands of mobile and internet users without access to essential services. The intense downpour over the past few days triggered widespread flooding and electricity breakdowns, which in turn knocked more than 2,500 telecom towers offline across the province. The collapse of this critical infrastructure has highlighted once again the fragility of connectivity systems during extreme weather conditions, especially in urban centers like Karachi where reliance on uninterrupted mobile and broadband access is central to daily life and business operations.
Sources within PTA confirmed that the outages were primarily triggered by power failures at tower sites as well as water damage to sensitive telecom hardware. In many locations, backup systems and generators were unable to withstand prolonged strain, leading to complete service blackouts in affected neighborhoods. PTA teams were deployed immediately after reports of network disruption began to surface, with technicians and engineers working round the clock to bring towers back into operation. Within the first 24 hours of the restoration drive, nearly 1,800 towers were successfully reactivated, allowing connectivity to return to most major parts of Karachi. However, despite this rapid progress, significant pockets of Sindh continue to face service interruptions as repairs on the remaining towers move forward.
Officials noted that the scale of the damage posed serious challenges, particularly in areas where roads were submerged, making access to tower sites extremely difficult for field teams. In addition to the logistical hurdles, prolonged power breakdowns in several districts have complicated restoration work, with some sites only temporarily reconnected until reliable electricity supply can be ensured. PTA has directed local administrations and power distribution companies to prioritize telecom infrastructure in their emergency management plans, stressing that consistent electricity provision is critical to avoiding extended outages. The regulator has also maintained constant coordination with provincial authorities to speed up the recovery timeline, aiming to restore full connectivity in the shortest possible timeframe.
According to experts, the incident has once again brought into focus the need for greater resilience in Pakistan’s telecom infrastructure. As extreme weather events become more frequent and intense, the country’s mobile and broadband networks are increasingly vulnerable to sudden breakdowns that impact not only consumer communication but also digital services, banking, commerce, and emergency coordination. Telecom operators and regulators are expected to revisit disaster management strategies to strengthen the stability of tower sites, improve backup power systems, and develop more climate-resistant network hardware. For a province like Sindh, which experiences recurring monsoon floods, such measures are being seen as essential to ensure continuity of digital connectivity during crises.
PTA sources reiterated that while significant progress has been made in bringing large sections of the network back online, work is still ongoing on hundreds of towers scattered across different districts of Sindh. The regulator has assured users that services will be fully restored as quickly as possible and emphasized its commitment to minimizing disruption in the future. With thousands of citizens still facing patchy signals or complete service blackouts, the ongoing efforts underline the central role telecommunications play in keeping communities connected, especially during emergencies when reliable communication is most urgently needed.
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