Note: This maintenance window ended on 2 November 2026.
Internet users in Pakistan may face slower speeds during peak hours until November 2, 2026. Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) has announced emergency maintenance on the AAE-1 international submarine cable.
What is happening
The maintenance began on October 27 on the section of the cable between Italy and France. PTCL says users may experience ‘minor service degradation’ during peak hours while the work continues. The maintenance is expected to last until November 2.
Why AAE-1 matters
The Asia-Africa-Europe 1 (AAE-1) cable is one of the main routes carrying Pakistan’s international internet traffic. The roughly 25,000-kilometre system links Southeast Asia to Europe through Egypt and lands in Pakistan at Karachi. PTCL has operated its Pakistan operations on the cable since 2017, with European landing points in Greece, Italy and France.
What users may notice
Because the work is on the European section, users are most likely to notice slower speeds when accessing services hosted in Europe, especially during busy evening hours. This means slower browsing, video buffering and delayed downloads — not a complete loss of internet access. The impact may vary by provider and network conditions.
Previous disruption
This is not the first time AAE-1 has affected Pakistan. In January 2025, a fault near Qatar slowed internet speeds across the country for nearly two weeks before PTCL announced it was fixed. PTCL has not said whether it will add backup bandwidth during the current maintenance window.
What users can do during cable maintenance
During maintenance like this, use the internet in off-peak hours when the network is less busy, and schedule large downloads overnight. Speeds may vary by provider, so heavy tasks may work better at different times of day. Services hosted in Europe are most affected, but this is not a full loss of internet access — local browsing and apps usually keep working.
