In the last few hours, internet users across Pakistan have faced a major slowdown in connectivity. Whether browsing social media, attending virtual meetings, or streaming content, users nationwide have reported sluggish speeds and difficulty accessing key services.
What Caused the Slowdown?
The issue has been traced back to a fault in the upstream internet service infrastructure specifically, a technical issue affecting Pakistan’s primary international bandwidth providers. This fault was reportedly made worse by flooding in certain areas, which may have damaged physical infrastructure and disrupted data flow.
This disruption has affected nearly all major internet service providers (ISPs) in Pakistan, including PTCL and Nayatel. It is not limited to a specific city or region but has been experienced across the country, including major hubs like Islamabad, Lahore, and Karachi.
What Services Are Affected?
- Slow access to global websites
- Microsoft services such as Outlook, Teams, and OneDrive are experiencing loading delays or becoming inaccessible
- Sites relying on international hosting platforms and CDNs (like Cloudflare) are loading extremely slowly
- VPNs and cloud-based tools used by remote workers are being affected
Impact on Daily Life
The slowdown has caused disruptions across multiple sectors:
- Students are unable to attend online classes or access educational material.
- Businesses relying on cloud-based communication and productivity tools have reported delays and service outages.
- Freelancers and remote workers are among the hardest hit, as their work depends heavily on stable, high-speed internet.
- Customer service centers and government portals are also experiencing performance issues.
Response and Current Status
ISPs have acknowledged the problem and confirmed that technical teams are actively working on restoring normal speeds. However, no exact timeline for resolution has been provided. Users are advised to be patient while service providers work to reroute and restore stable bandwidth supply.
Conclusion
This internet disruption highlights Pakistan’s ongoing reliance on a limited number of upstream international connections. Until redundancy and resilience improve in the telecom infrastructure, such incidents especially during emergencies like flooding are likely to continue affecting users.
For now, users should expect temporary delays and prepare alternatives if their work depends heavily on internet access. Updates from ISPs are expected as the situation progresses.
