PTCL flags possible internet slowdowns as submarine cable repair set for May 11–18

Internet users across Pakistan may face intermittent slowdowns next week as maintenance work on an international submarine cable system is scheduled to run from May 11 to May 18, the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTCL) said on Sunday.

The state-owned operator announced on social media platform X that the repair work is being carried out by an International Cable Consortium to fix a fault in one of the undersea fibre-optic systems linking Pakistan to global internet networks. The maintenance activity is expected to continue for up to a week.

PTCL cautioned that users may experience degraded internet performance during the maintenance window, particularly in evening hours when traffic demand is typically higher.

The company, which manages three submarine optical fibre cable systems providing Pakistan’s international connectivity, did not specify the scale of expected disruption but noted that service quality could be affected temporarily.

Submarine cable maintenance and faults have repeatedly contributed to internet disruptions in Pakistan, highlighting the country’s dependence on a limited number of undersea routes for global connectivity.