ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has revealed that a fault in the submarine cable is the reason behind the recent internet disruption in Pakistan.
This was disclosed by PTA Chairman, Hafiz Rahman while briefing the Standing Committee on Information Technology which was chaired by Syed Aminul Haque.
Syed Aminul Haq asked the PTA chairman to inform the public about the reasons for the disruption and whether a firewall system was in place.
The PTA chairman explained that 7.5 terabits of data come to Pakistan through one cable, and a fault in the submarine cable had caused the disruption.
He added that there are seven fiber optic cables coming to Pakistan, and one of them is damaged, which is expected to be repaired by August 27.
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The committee members asked questions about the use of VPNs and the impact of the disruption on local internet services. In response, the PTA Chairman clarified that the submarine cable fault had caused the disruption, and it was not a global issue, but specific to Pakistan’s cable.
Earlier, Minister of State for IT, Shaza Fatima claimed that the widespread use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) caused internet disruption in Pakistan.
Pakistan has been facing internet service disruption and the issues are linked to the implementation of internet firewalls, which were installed at the country’s main internet gateways to monitor and filter traffic.
While these systems can control or block content on websites and social media platforms, authorities claim that, they also can trace the origin of objectionable material.