Pakistan Internet Disruptions

Internet users in Pakistan have been facing slow internet bandwidth and connectivity issues since early August 2024. According to industry sources, millions of users representing different domains face challenges in accessing applications and data services due to slow connectivity, or often outages. According to industry sources, out of a population of approximately 240 million people, Pakistan has over 189 million cellular and 111 million internet users. The user base here is significantly diverse, which includes local and foreign businesses, domestic, academia, researchers, freelancers, and developers. Although these disruptions have affected all segments of society, local IT and IT-enabled service companies are the most vulnerable due their need to maintain critical business mass, gather future contracts, and retain employees.

The IT and IT-enabled services sector has a market size of approximately $3.5 billion, which represents approximately 1 percent of the country’s total GDP. Local industry experts have mixed observations and comments about the primary reasons behind these disruptions. Some are of the view that these issues have emerged after the government’s recent actions to enact revised national security protocols that seek to closely monitor users’ activities for threats to national security or religious, and social sensitivities. For example, X, formerly Twitter, was completely blocked in Pakistan in February 2024. Local media reported that the Ministry of Information Technology (MoIT) and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) installed a country-wide firewall to control user access and minimize violations in August 2024. This firewall is installed at cable landing stations, which are the entry points where undersea internet data cables connect with the country’s upstream internet network. Other experts noted that the ongoing internet slowdown is mainly attributed to technical issues with undersea data cables and the increase in illegal uses of VPNs in Pakistan. 

Some international companies have temporarily limited their services in Pakistan. In August 2024, Fiverr, a freelancing marketplace based out of Tel Aviv, Israel, temporarily listed Pakistani developers as “Unavailable,” with a notification that their services will be made available once bandwidth is restored. For a period during August 2024, government officials in Pakistan’s provinces did not announce a timeline for the restoration of internet availability, indicating slow or unavailable internet is a risk businesses should consider.

For more information contact the U.S. Commercial Service in Pakistan: Hassan Raza, Commercial Specialist, U.S. Commercial Service, U.S. Consulate General, Lahore, Pakistan, Email: Hassan.Raza@trade.gov.