ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) has clarified that internet services across the country will not be shut down on Tuesday, October 14, contrary to several misleading claims circulating on social media.
The telecom operator confirmed that users may experience slower internet speeds due to scheduled maintenance work on an international submarine cable.
Furthermore, the PTCL announced that repair work on a faulty repeater in the submarine cable system will be carried out on Tuesday.
The maintenance activity is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. Pakistan Standard Time and is expected to continue for up to 18 hours.
Moreover, the rumors began circulating online earlier this week claiming that internet services across Pakistan would be completely suspended on October 14. PTCL and several independent sources have confirmed that these reports are false and misleading.
The company focused on the fact that only temporary slowdowns are expected due to unavoidable technical maintenance.
Meanwhile, the outage-tracking platform Downdetector recorded user reports of intermittent access issues on popular social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.
However, these disruptions appeared to be limited and may not have been directly linked to PTCL’s ongoing maintenance activity.
In this regard, this is not the first time Pakistan has faced connectivity challenges due to issues with submarine cables. From the last few months. PTCL had warned that cuts in Saudi territorial waters could lead to slower speeds during peak usage hours.
Similarly, earlier this year, on January 3, internet services across the country were affected after a fault in the AAE-1 subsea cable.
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Verdict: Claims of a nationwide internet shutdown on October 14 are false. PTCL has confirmed that users may experience slower internet speeds for several hours due to scheduled submarine cable maintenance, not a complete outage.
