The Pakistan Telecommunications Company Ltd (PTCL) said on Friday that a technical fault in its optic fiber network, that had caused internet outages in some regions including major urban centres, has been repaired and internet services restored.
“Technical fault in the PTCL optic fiber network caused by heavy rains and flooding has been repaired and internet services have been restored,” it tweeted. The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) also confirmed all internet services in Pakistan have been restored to normal. Earlier in the day, major telecom operators reported that internet connectivity was down in some regions, with #internetdown trending on Twitter. The PTA had said it was investigating the matter.
“As reported by PTCL, [an] issue has been reported in data networks between South and North which is causing internet connectivity issues. “This issue is being investigated. The PTA is monitoring the situation and further updates will be shared,” the authority said.
PTCL’s problems had a knock-on effect on other service providers, including on cellular data. Telenor Pakistan, backed by Norway’s Telenor, said its internet network was down because of a network issue at its internet service provider. Widespread internet blackouts were reported in Islamabad and Lahore where fixed-line broadband users, as well as cellular network users, reported no connectivity. But numerous users reported that the country’s largest telecommunications provider, Jazz, owned by Amsterdam-listed global provider Veon, was up and running. “Jazz network is by and large unaffected with our robust architecture and multiple layers of protection to provide consistent experience to our users,” Jazz’s head of external communications, Khayyam Siddiqi, told Reuters. He said the provider was experiencing a spike in data traffic following the outages on other networks.
