A wave of frustration rippled through Pakistan’s online community this week as users across major cities reported slow or unstable internet connections. The issue surfaced soon after a global technical outage at Amazon Web Services (AWS) — one of the world’s biggest cloud platforms — combined with what local telecom sources suggest was a submarine cable fault impacting national connectivity.
While AWS services were restored globally after a few hours, the combined effect of both incidents left Pakistanis struggling to access websites, stream content, and use popular digital platforms.
What Exactly Happened?
On Monday, AWS confirmed that one of its core regions, US-East-1, faced a Domain Name System (DNS) failure. The glitch temporarily disrupted major platforms like Snapchat, Reddit, and ChatGPT, affecting millions worldwide.
At the same time, internet users in Pakistan began facing connectivity issues that went beyond the AWS incident. Reports from Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, and Rawalpindi suggested unusually slow speeds and high latency, prompting speculation about a deeper problem in local infrastructure.
Telecom monitoring groups and engineers later pointed towards a possible fault in the PEACE submarine cable system, one of Pakistan’s main international data routes. This double disruption — one global and one domestic — made the slowdown particularly severe for local users.
How It Affected Users in Pakistan
For many Pakistanis, the experience felt like déjà vu. Students attending online classes, freelancers delivering client projects, and small businesses depending on e-commerce all faced delays.
“I thought my Wi-Fi was acting up again, but everyone in my area was complaining,” tweeted one user from Lahore.
ISPs tried to reassure subscribers that the issue was temporary, while some blamed it entirely on the AWS failure. However, independent observers noted that traffic routes within Pakistan were also affected, suggesting the local cable fault played a major role.
Why Pakistan Felt It More Than Others
Pakistan’s internet infrastructure, though improving, still relies heavily on a few undersea cables for global connectivity. A fault in even one of these can reduce bandwidth nationwide. Combined with growing dependence on foreign cloud services like AWS, the country’s digital backbone remains vulnerable to external shocks.
Experts say the AWS outage merely exposed a larger structural weakness — the lack of redundancy and local backup systems. Unlike countries with multiple data centers and diversified cloud hosting, Pakistan’s internet ecosystem leans on a few global players and limited routes, making disruptions more noticeable.
Industry Reactions and Lessons Learned
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has not yet issued a detailed public statement, though several ISPs have acknowledged ongoing “technical checks.” Meanwhile, tech analysts believe this event should serve as a wake-up call for the government and private sector.
They suggest:
- More local data centers to reduce reliance on global cloud networks.
- Diversified submarine routes to ensure internet continuity.
- Transparent outage communication so users know what’s happening in real time.
“Pakistan’s growing digital economy depends on stable connectivity,” said one telecom analyst. “If we want to attract global tech investment, we must build resilience against outages like this.”
A Reminder for Digital Pakistan
This disruption highlights how deeply everyday life is tied to global internet infrastructure. From food delivery apps to cloud-based startups, downtime affects both convenience and productivity.
While most services are now back to normal, the event underscores the need for Pakistan’s IT and telecom sectors to strengthen redundancy, local hosting, and crisis response mechanisms. As the country’s digital population grows, internet stability will play a defining role in the success of the “Digital Pakistan” vision.
Pakistan’s internet slowdown wasn’t just another random glitch, it was a collision of global and local vulnerabilities. The AWS outage may have triggered it, but Pakistan’s heavy dependence on foreign networks magnified its impact. Building a more independent, resilient digital infrastructure could be the key to avoiding such nationwide slowdowns in the future.
