ISLAMABAD, July 8: The country’s internet system is back on track after two weeks of disruption as the fault in the Southeast Asia-Middle East-Western Europe-3 (SEAMEWE-3) undersea cable near Karachi has been rectified by Dubai-based experts.
Pakistan Telecommunication Company President Junaid I. Khan said at a press conference at the company’s headquarters on Friday that the cable had been damaged by the anchor of a ship and the fault had been rectified.
He said the internet services were normalized at 11:54am. He said the experts had to face harsh weather caused by monsoon rains in the Arabian Sea.
He said a committee was being formed to seek ban on fishing in the sea over the cable to avert such a situation in future.
He dispelled the impression that the cable had been damaged during the recent Pakistan-US naval war games. He said the war games were held off Pasni.
He said the PTCL was participating in the SEAMEWE-4 project and service from the alternative cable would be available to the country by October or November.
“A terrestrial link with India, replacing the existing analogue system with fibre-optic system, is also under implementation,” he said.
The PTCL chief said the company had started discussion with Etisalat to upgrade the coaxial bilateral link to fibre-optic system.
He said the PTCL would keep the satellite facility for three months to cope with any disruption in the SEAMEWE-3.
When asked about the loss suffered by call centres and internet cafes, he said the company had provided satellite services free of cost even to those who were not its customers. He said the impact of the crisis on voice traffic was negligible.
