Federal I.T. Secretary Zarrar Hasham on Thursday informed the National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology that restoring normal internet speeds in the country may take four to five weeks.
Responding to a question during a meeting of the committee, he noted that four to five cables had been damaged near the coast of Yemen. Of these, he explained, two serve Pakistan while the rest serve other regional states. Repairing them, he said, was complicated by unrest in Yemen, adding it could take four to five weeks before services return to normal.
According to the I.T. secretary, internet service providers in Pakistan have shifted bandwidth to alternative routes to keep services operations, but noted that slow speeds and sporadic outages may continue until repairs are completed.
Hasham said three new submarine cables, linking Pakistan to Europe, would become operational within 12-18 months, adding agreements for these had already been signed.
Earlier this month, the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) had informed users that the country may experience disruptions due to submarine cable cuts in Saudi waters near Jeddah. In its statement, it had said international partners were working on priority to restore the damaged links, while local teams had arranged alternative bandwidth to mitigate the impact.