The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has announced that internet services across the country are now running without interruption, after engineers completed repairs on the SEA-ME-WE 5 (SMW5) submarine cable system.

The regulator said the fault in the international undersea cable, which had earlier led to intermittent slowdowns and connectivity issues for users nationwide, has now been fully resolved. In a statement issued on Friday, the PTA confirmed that internet traffic has returned to normal following the restoration work.

Earlier, when the disruption came to light, the PTA revealed that a technical fault along the SMW5 route was affecting data traffic, with some users reporting degraded service quality. 

In an earlier statement, the regulator said it was closely monitoring internet traffic disruption caused by a fault in the SEA-ME-WE 5 (SMW5) international submarine cable system.

The authority said that “some internet users may experience intermittent degradation in service quality and connectivity as a result of the fault.”

The authority further said Transworld Associates (TWA) is coordinating with the SMW5 Consortium to identify the root cause of the fault and determine the estimated time for restoration (ETTR).”

“In the meantime, internet traffic is being rerouted through alternate international links to minimise the impact and ensure service continuity to the greatest extent possible,” the PTA said.

“PTA remains in close coordination with the concerned stakeholders and will continue to monitor the situation to facilitate the earliest possible restoration of normal internet services across the country,” it added.