A Breakdown
On Friday, April 27th, Pakistan experienced widespread internet outages due to damaged sea cables. Local media reports attributed the disruptions to breaks in the fiber optic cable connecting Singapore to Pakistan and Europe. These breaks were found at multiple locations, causing significant disruption to internet connectivity across Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.
The damaged fiber optic cable, crucial for connecting Singapore to Pakistan and Europe, suffered damage near Indonesia. This impacted internet services across a vast region. Reports revealed five breaks in the underwater cable, significantly affecting internet connectivity, especially from eastern routes.
Restoration efforts are estimated to take around a month to fully repair the damaged sections of the fiber optic cable. However, both Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTCL) and Transworld are facing challenges with eastbound traffic.
Consumers in Pakistan have had difficulty accessing the internet since less than 10% of internet traffic is routed from the east. To mitigate the impact, PTCL has rerouted internet traffic from the east to alternate channels. However, customers may continue to experience issues until the fiber optic network is fully restored.