2/22/22, 3:57 PM Submarine cable fault disrupts internet services in Pakistan - Pakistan - DAWN.

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TODAY'S PAPER | FEBRUARY 22, 2022

Submarine cable fault disrupts internet services

in Pakistan
Javed Hussain | Published February 22, 2022 - | Updated about 3 hours ago

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on Tuesday said users of Trans

World Associates (TWA), one of the two license holders for international landing
stations of submarine cables, could face bandwidth disruptions due to a reported
breakage in the company's submarine cable system.

The PTA said the fault was reported around 6pm on Monday and caused an outage of
international bandwidth. "[It] may result in degradation of internet services for users of
Transworld bandwidth," the statement said.

It added that the consortium was arranging ad hoc bandwidth to minimise the impact and efforts
were ongoing to ascertain the exact location of the fault as well as the expected restoration time.

Social media was also abuzz with complaints of disruption and slowdown in internet services.

Nayatel said most of its service operators were affected across the country and sent out an alert to
its customers, saying they might face slow internet speeds. It said the problem has existed since
Monday morning.

In December 2021, Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited said it had "arranged for
alternative channels for bandwidth" to compensate for a fault in an international submarine cable
amid reports of slow internet speed from across the country.

Internet users in Pakistan had also faced disruptions in October 2021 when a submarine cable
developed a fault near Fujairah, United Arab Emirates.

Prior to that in February, one of the country's six international submarine cables had developed a
fault near Abu Talat, Egypt, causing a degradation in internet services across Pakistan. The fault
was later repaired by TWA.

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