ISLAMABAD – Pakistanis woke up to connectivity troubles on Eid Milad un Nabi, a public holiday, as submarine cables in Saudi waters near Jeddah were damaged, Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) confirmed Saturday.
The fault struck two key international links, identified as SMW4 and IMEWE, disrupting Pakistan’s bandwidth capacity and slowing services nationwide. The largest internet service provider assured that global repair teams are already on the job, while backup routes are being activated to keep the country online.
Downdetector, internet watchdog, also witnessed surge in user complaints, showing disruptions building up overnight and spiking sharply by 9am. At least 16 outages were logged at 10:09am, pointing to the widespread impact of the cable cuts.
Courtesy: Downdetector
Despite setback, Pakistan’s digital backbone is expected to strengthen in coming years. Africa-1 submarine cable — a 10,000-km high-capacity system linking Pakistan with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, and France, is under development and projected to be operational by early 2026. Approved at a cost of $59.5 million, the project promises to boost resilience and minimise such future disruptions.
For now, users are bracing for patchy service until full restoration is achieved — a reminder of how critical undersea cables are to keeping Pakistan connected to the world.
