KARACHI: The Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) says it has started restoring its services after a fault in its fiber optic cables caused a massive, hours-long disruption of internet and cellular services in parts of the country.
PTCL suffered a ‘major outage on its network’, resulting in disruption of internet and cellular services in Sindh, Balochistan and parts of Punjab, it had earlier said.
It left thousands of subscribers virtually unable to connect to the world for nearly five hours.
The disruption resulted in suspension of PTCL landline, internet and cellular services in Sindh and Balochistan, while subscribers in other parts of country experienced scrambled services and delays.
The optical fiber cables of the PTCL were damaged in Othal, Hub, Khuzdar and Sorab areas of Balochistan, officials said. The cable was also affected in Karachi’s Gulshan e Hadeed and Nooriabad areas.
However, PTCL officials repaired the cables after five hours of efforts and began restoring services.
#PTCL services are being restored. Thank you for your patience and inconvenience is regretted.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority said the restoration of PTCL cables has begun. “The services were disrupted after PTCL fiber optic cables at some places near Hub and Karachi were slashed,” said a PTA spokesman.
Investigations are ongoing to identify reasons behind cutting of cables, he added.
