Internet slow in Pakistan until 2 November: AAE-1 submarine cable maintenance, PTCL says

Internet slow in Pakistan: users may see slower speeds at peak hours until 2 November 2026 while emergency maintenance is carried out on the AAE-1 submarine cable, PTCL has said. The work began on Tuesday 27 October on the stretch of cable between Italy and France, and PTCL warned of "minor service degradation" during busy hours, ProPakistani reported.

The key facts

Why one cable in Europe matters in Karachi

AAE-1 is one of the main routes carrying Pakistan's international internet traffic. The roughly 25,000-kilometre system runs from South East Asia to Europe through Egypt and lands in Pakistan at Karachi; PTCL began operating it here in 2017. Its European landing points are in Greece, Italy and France.

Because the work is on the European end, the slowdown is most likely when you reach services hosted in Europe, and in the evening, when the most people are online. Local sites and services cached inside Pakistan should be less affected. PTCL has not said whether it will add backup capacity on other cables during the maintenance window.

What you can do this week

• Plan big downloads (game updates, phone backups, large files) for early morning, when traffic is lowest.
• Lower video quality on YouTube or streaming apps in the evening if playback keeps stopping.
• Freelancers and remote workers should keep a mobile data bundle as a backup for calls and uploads that cannot wait. Compare data offers on our mobile packages comparison, and if you are topping up often, see what you actually pay with the mobile load tax calculator.
• If your connection drops completely, rather than just slowing, that is a separate fault: report it to your provider.

It has happened before

In January 2025, a fault on AAE-1 near Qatar slowed internet across Pakistan for nearly two weeks before PTCL said it had been repaired. This time the work is planned maintenance with an end date, so the impact should be smaller and shorter.