KARACHI: Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) has formally notified internet users across the country regarding expected service degradation and slower connection speeds, particularly during peak evening hours, through November 2, 2026. This temporary performance dip is caused by critical emergency repair activities currently underway on the Asia-Africa-Europe 1 (AAE-1) international submarine cable system. The maintenance work is specifically located on the underwater network segment situated between Italy and France, prompting PTCL to appeal to the public for patience and cooperation while operations are completed.
Spanning approximately 25,000 kilometers and landing in Karachi since 2017, the AAE-1 cable serves as one of the most vital gateways for Pakistan’s international digital communications, connecting Southeast Asia to Europe via Egypt. Because the current repair work is localized on the European connection points in Greece, Italy, and France, Pakistani consumers are most likely to experience noticeable latency and reduced speeds when attempting to access websites, application servers, and online services hosted within European territories.
This operational setback mirrors a previous disruption in January 2025, when a technical fault in the same AAE-1 network near Qatar led to nationwide internet slowness lasting nearly two weeks. Although PTCL eventually resolved the earlier issue, the telecom operator has not yet issued a statement confirming whether backup bandwidth routes have been deployed to offset traffic constraints during this ongoing maintenance period.
