Internet services restored across Pakistan: PTA

• PTA says it is monitoring until internet is restored for all users.
• Says glitch in PTCL system caused disruption of internet services.
• Downdetector says only 23% people reported complete "blackout".

The internet services of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTCL) have been restored across the country after almost a daylong disruption, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said on Wednesday.

"It is notified that the internet/broadband is now available across Pakistan," the telecommunication regulatory body said in a statement issued on X today.

The authority, however, said it was unclear as to what had disrupted the internet today, saying, "The exact issue is being investigated by PTA."

The PTCL's faced disruption in various cities in the country for almost entire day.

"Currently, the PTCL network is facing data outage in various cities due to which connectivity has been affected," a PTCL spokesperson had said in statement after the slowdown of the internet was reported.

"Our teams are actively working to resolve and rectify the issue at the earliest."

In a statement on X, Netblocks that tracks internet outages, digital governance and connectivity, confirmed the widespread internet disruption in Pakistan.

"Live network data show a nation-scale disruption to internet connectivity in Pakistan," Netblocks said.

It stated that metrics show national connectivity at 24% of ordinary levels, corroborating user reports of a "widespread outage".

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) also confirmed the disruption in internet services in the country. 

In its announcement on social media, the PTA reiterated that internet services have suffered "up to some extent" in some parts of the country owing to some "fault in PTCL system".

In a statement, the telecommunication regulator said that the authorities were monitoring the situation till internet/broadband services are back to normal for all users and work was underway to resolve the issue at the earliest. 

A spike in outages of PTCL services was reported at around 1:30pm, said Downdetector, an online platform showing real-time information on outages of various websites and services.

It said that 73% of people complained of internet problems while 23% others reported complete "blackout".

The internet outage detector further said that most complaints were received from Karachi, Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Lahore, Faisalabad and Multan.

In its bid to regulate internet services in the country, the government last week tested a firewall system with an allocation of Rs30 billion in the development budget, the officials privy to the matter told The News.

The progress came to the fore after Internet users reported slowing down of social media platforms on July 25 as the system was put to trial.

The official said that work on the firewall has been in progress since January this year.

Another government official had said that the new development was aimed at social media influencers which, the government thinks, "are involved in spreading fake news". The objective is to reduce their reach by blocking their content or making it less visible, according to the official.