Islamabad, Aug 21 (PTI) Pakistan telecom watchdog chief on Wednesday claimed that a faulty submarine cable was behind the countrywide internet slowdown and rejected reports that government-installed firewalls were responsible for the glitch.
For a few weeks, it has been alleged that the internet speed was slowed due to firewalls installed by the authorities to check unwanted criticism of the government and top government institutions by the opposition, especially jailed former prime minister Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.
The cause of the internet slowdown emerged on Wednesday during the meeting of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on IT where the chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Maj Gen (Ret) Hafeezur Rehman faced tough questions from the lawmakers.
Rehman was grilled about fluctuations in the internet speed over the past few weeks, and users are facing difficulties in sending or downloading media and voice notes through WhatsApp when connected to mobile data.
“The internet slowdown in the country is due to a faulty submarine cable, which is expected to be repaired by August 28,” Rehman said.
He also clarified that it was the government’s web management system — and not a firewall — which was being upgraded. “In my opinion, the Internet should not slow down due to an upgrade,” he said, adding that the telecom sector has suffered a loss of Rs 300 million due to internet disruptions.
PTI chief Gohar Ali Khan, who also attended the meeting, asked the PTA chief about the reasons behind the prolonged ban on social media platform X, when the ban could be lifted.
The PTA top official responded by saying that he had no more information on the matter.
Responding to other questions, he said that VPNs were not being blocked in the country, nor can they be.
Earlier, not just the PTI, but the business community and the internet service providers (ISPs) too had alleged that the government’s efforts to monitor internet traffic through a ‘firewall’ were responsible for the slowdown of digital services, causing economic losses.
IT minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja had said the government was upgrading its “web management system” to tackle cyber security threats but categorically rejected a report about throttling the internet. PTI SH NPK NPK NPK
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.