Pakistani users may face more Internet outages due to flood
Pakistanis may face more suspensions of internet service in the near future as the country deals with excessive flooding caused by relentless rains, a technical report submitted to the Ministry of Information Technology stated.
PTCL stated in its report that internet outages during the last few days were actually caused by “flood relief efforts in the Sukkur division where fibre-optic cables were being damaged mainly by heavy machinery used to clear water in Sindh”.
According to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), taking notice of the continuous internet outages in recent days, the Ministry of Information Technology had sought technical reports from PTCL and the regulator of the telecom sector.
The PTA said the multiple cuts in fibre-optic cables were not due to any sabotage or criminal activity but because of digging of trenches at various places to divert or drain out floodwater.
The PTCL report said that the last interruption in internet service was on August 22 and 23 due to multiple outages in Ghotki, Khairpur and Sukkur districts, with the worst loss occurring in Ranipur tehsil of Khairpur district.
