Pakistan Telecommunications Limited (PTCL) has announced that internet users across the country may face slower speeds and connectivity issues on Tuesday due to maintenance work on an undersea cable.
According to the company, the maintenance is being carried out to repair a faulty repeater in the submarine cable system. The work is scheduled to begin on October 14 at around 11am PST and may continue for up to 18 hours.
“During this period, customers will face Internet service degradation. We regret the inconvenience,” PTCL said in a statement.
The announcement comes as many users in Pakistan have already reported difficulties accessing social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. Data from internet tracking site Downdetector shows a rise in outage complaints over the past 24 hours.
This is not the first time Pakistan’s internet connectivity has been affected by submarine cable problems. Last month, PTCL had warned of possible disruptions due to cable cuts in Saudi waters during peak hours.
PTCL assured users that efforts are underway to restore normal internet services as quickly as possible and apologized for the inconvenience caused by the ongoing maintenance.
The latest disruption follows a weekend of mobile internet suspensions in Islamabad and Lahore, imposed during widespread protests by Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP).