PTA has issued a press release confirming it is closely monitoring internet traffic disruptions across Pakistan caused by a fault in the SEA-ME-WE 5 international submarine cable system, which carries a significant portion of the country’s international internet bandwidth. The fault is causing intermittent degradation in service quality and connectivity for some internet users across Pakistan, with the extent and severity of the impact varying depending on which operators and routes are affected.
Transworld Associates, one of Pakistan’s major international bandwidth providers and a consortium member of the SEA-ME-WE 5 cable system, is coordinating directly with the SMW5 Consortium to identify the root cause of the fault and determine an Estimated Time for Restoration. In the meantime, internet traffic is being rerouted through alternate international links to minimise the impact and ensure service continuity to the greatest extent possible, a standard contingency measure that Pakistan’s major operators maintain for exactly this kind of submarine cable disruption scenario.
The SEA-ME-WE 5 cable is one of the most critical pieces of infrastructure underpinning Pakistan’s international internet connectivity, spanning approximately 20,000 kilometres and connecting South and Southeast Asia with the Middle East and Western Europe. Faults in submarine cable systems of this scale can take days to weeks to fully repair depending on the location of the break and the availability of cable repair vessels in the region, making the rerouting of traffic through alternative capacity an essential interim measure. PTA said it remains in close coordination with concerned stakeholders and will continue to monitor the situation to facilitate the earliest possible restoration of normal internet services across the country, with further updates expected as the root cause assessment and restoration timeline are confirmed by the SMW5 Consortium.
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