Internet services across Pakistan faced disruptions on Monday after an international submarine cable was cut near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, causing reduced browsing speed in multiple regions.
Speaking to the media, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Minister of State for IT, confirmed the issue and said authorities were in touch with international operators to assess the damage and restoration timeline. “We are waiting for an update from the concerned teams. Once the repair schedule is confirmed, we will immediately inform the public,” she added.
Fatima highlighted that Pakistan’s core problem remains the shortage of broadband spectrum, which worsens the impact of such outages. She further noted that while the slowdown has affected businesses and users, no official timeframe for repairs has been shared by the international maintenance teams so far.
The government is in contact with PTCL and global partners to resolve the issue, while an investigation is underway to determine the extent of the cable damage.