Pakistan Telecommunication Authority announced that internet users are likely to face slow internet speeds on Thursday due to a fault reported in the international submarine cable. According to a notification issued by the authority, “A power reconfiguration activity on a section of international submarine cable, #SMW4, will be undertaken on 21st April 2022 from 02:00 AM to 07:00 AM. This may cause some internet users to experience downgraded speeds during the mentioned time only.”
Slow internet speeds due to the fault in SMW4
Due to the fault in an international submarine cable, SMW4, the Pakistani internet users will face slow internet speeds and to tackle that PTA announced; “Alternate measures to provide uninterrupted internet services to users will be taken to meet capacity requirements and to return to full functionality as quickly as possible. The availability of internet services will be as usual throughout the country.”
As reported by ET, the total length of the SEA-ME-WE 4 (SMW4) submarine cable system is approximately 20,000 km which consists of the main backbone across the Eastern and Western worlds and links 14 countries with 16 landing stations across Europe, the Middle East and Asia plus the extension links in various countries. The SMW4 cable system consists of two fiber pairs, with an initial design capacity of 1.28Tbps, upgraded to 4.6Tbps in 2015.
Previous internet disruption
Back in January, a fault was detected in the same SMW4 submarine cable that affected millions of internet users for days. In December last year, the internet users faced the same issue in the internet connection when services were disrupted due to a fault in the international submarine SEA-ME-WE 4 cable. However, this time as well, the telecommunication authority has said that it would work to ensure the internet starts full functionality as quickly as possible.
Read more: Faulty Submarine Cable Disrupts Internet Services Across Pakistan
