Pakistan's Internet Faces Intermittent Disruptions Due to Submarine Cable Fault
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) announced on Thursday that it is closely monitoring internet traffic disruptions stemming from a fault in the SEA-ME-WE 5 international submarine cable system. This issue is expected to lead to intermittent degradation in internet service quality and connectivity across Pakistan. Transworld Associates (TWA), the sole private-sector operator owning submarine fiber-optic cable systems, is collaborating with the SEA-ME-WE 5 consortium to pinpoint the fault's origin and estimate a restoration timeline. To mitigate the impact, internet traffic is being rerouted through alternative international links to ensure service continuity. TWA customers received an SMS acknowledging a technical fault in one of its submarine cables and assuring them that technical teams are actively working on a resolution. The PTA is maintaining close coordination with all relevant stakeholders and will continue to monitor the situation closely. This incident occurs months after Pakistan welcomed the SEA-ME-WE 6 submarine cable in November, which boasts a capacity of over 100 terabits per second and offers a low-latency route between Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Western Europe. Pakistan has been allocated 13.2 terabits per second from this new cable, designed with enhanced resilience and diversification through geo-diversified crossings.
This event highlights the critical vulnerability of national internet infrastructure to single points of failure in undersea cable systems. While rerouting traffic and consortium collaboration are standard mitigation strategies, the incident underscores the ongoing need for greater redundancy and diversification in Pakistan's international connectivity. The recent landing of the SEA-ME-WE 6 cable represents a significant step towards enhancing resilience, but the intermittent disruptions from the SEA-ME-WE 5 fault suggest that the benefits of such upgrades may not be fully realized until they are operational and integrated. Future infrastructure planning should prioritize not only capacity but also the geographic and technological diversity of cable routes to minimize the impact of localized failures and ensure consistent service delivery in an increasingly digital world.
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