There is currently a widespread internet outage in Pakistan, and it is expected to last for more than a month. On Wednesday, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) declared that a fault in an underwater cable is the cause of the problem. It is anticipated that the SMW-4 submarine cable damage repairs won’t be finished until early October.
The public and the IT sector have responded negatively to this protracted disruption. Some who disagree claim that the government’s testing of a new internet firewall intended to regulate social media content is the cause of the slowdown. This firewall has drawn criticism for its possible effects on internet speed and connectivity. It is fitted with filters to restrict specific web content.
The PTA had previously claimed that problems in two of the seven international submarine cables linking Pakistan were to blame for the internet delay. The AAE-1 cable has been fixed, which should result in some improvement in internet service, but repairs on the SMW-4 cable are still proceeding, according to a recent announcement from the PTA. Recently, PTA Chairman Maj Gen (retd) Hafeezur Rehman acknowledged that the National Firewall System (NFS), commonly referred to as the Web Management System (WMS), is undergoing an overhaul.
With the help of court orders or government regulations, this system seeks to control or remove information from social media networks. Rehman emphasized that in March 2019, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) administration approved the project to upgrade the NFS.
The PTA president added that as there are legal mechanisms in place for executing such restrictions, the social media network X (previously Twitter) was banned for disobeying government orders. The Standing Committee on Information Technology of the National Assembly rejected plans to censor social media sites or slow down the internet in reaction to the disruptions. The Ministry of IT has been given instructions by the committee to evaluate the financial impact on the IT industry and provide a report.
Industry associations like the Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) and Wireless and Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan (WISPAP) have strongly criticized the government, citing dire economic consequences for IT professionals, freelancers, and the digital economy as a whole.
The current state of affairs has affected people and businesses who depend on dependable internet connectivity for their operations, with P@SHA estimating that the crisis has cost $300 million. The administration, meanwhile, has refuted any knowledge of deliberate disruptions of internet services. According to Shaza Fatima Khawaja, state minister for information technology, the slowness may be caused by users’ extensive usage of VPNs.
