The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), has finally revealed the reasons behind slowdown of internet.
The telecommunication regulatory body informed that a fault in the submarine cable is the reason behind the recent internet disruption in country.
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As per details, PTA Chairman, Major General (retd) Hafeezur Rehman, briefed the Standing Committee on Information Technology, chaired by Syed Aminul Haque, on the matter.
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 also cleared about firewall installation, saying there’s no such thing. “No firewall is being installed.”
He added that optic cables is damaged, which is expected to be repaired by August 27.
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.
During a news conference in Islamabad, Shaza Fatima stated that the internet was neither blocked nor deliberately slowed down, but rather that the increased use of VPNs caused technical strain on the network.
She mentioned that as certain services became restricted, more users turned to VPNs, which she claimed negatively impacted internet speed in the country.
