Hashtag: #InternetAccess, #DigitalPakistan, #InternetInfrastructure.

International submarine cables are responsible for slow internet speeds over the weekend,
and this is being rectified, according to IT Minister Shaza Fatima. According to IT Minister
Fatima and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, the submarine cable known as
Asia-Africa-Europe 1 (or AAE-1) suffered a fault around Qatar, that caused a severe
degradation in the quality and speed of internet access in Pakistan. According the Minister
and the PTA, “the issue of degradation of Internet services due to fault in AAE1 submarine
cable on January 2, 2025 ad hoc bandwidth has been arranged and added in the system”.
According to additional reports, a new underwater cable is being laid that will provide
more stable internet connections, via system called the “2Africa Submarine Cable”, backed
by a consortium that includes Meta, China Mobile and the Saudi Telecom Company. The
Minister and PTA did not address earlier internet disruptions, however, which have been
attributed by rights groups to the development of the internet “firewall” or Web
Management System.