Submarine Cable Fault Near Saudi Arabia Slows Internet Across Pakistan

Photo by Nahi Khabar 24/7 – via Personal Collection

 Islamabad: nternet users across Pakistan are experiencing slower-than-usual connectivity today following a fault in key submarine internet cables near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, PTCL (Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited) confirmed.

PTCL officials say the issue involves damage to two major undersea cable systems — SMW4 (South East Asia–Middle East–Western Europe 4) and IMEWE (India–Middle East–Western Europe). The incident has caused reduced bandwidth, particularly impacting users during peak browsing hours 

Across major cities like Karachi and Islamabad, Downdetector and other public monitoring tools have registered a sharp rise in outage reports. Many subscribers noted substantial slowdowns and intermittent connectivity.

In response, PTCL is coordinating with international cable operators to expedite repair efforts. Meanwhile, the company’s local teams are arranging alternative bandwidth routes to reduce the disruption’s impact on users.