WhatsApp and Instagram users in Pakistan experienced widespread outages on Saturday, as reported by the outage tracking website DownDetector. Alongside the social media disruptions, users also reported internet service interruptions from network providers Zong and PTCL.
According to DownDetector, Instagram users reported a peak of 86 outages in a single hour, while WhatsApp users began experiencing problems at around 10:45 am, particularly when trying to send voice notes. Zong and PTCL have been experiencing outages since the morning, further impacting users’ ability to access services.
The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) has yet to comment on the current outages. However, in August, the PTA had warned that internet services across the country would remain slow until early October due to issues with two international submarine cables: SMW-4 and AAE-1.
The PTA previously stated that these cables, which are crucial for connecting Pakistan to international internet networks, were damaged, causing the ongoing slowdown. While the AAE-1 cable has already been repaired, improving internet connectivity somewhat, repairs to the SMW-4 cable are not expected to be completed until early October 2024.
