Shaheer Ahmed
For all the avid users of the internet, frequent posters on social media platforms, and the people who identify themselves as ‘keyboard warriors’, we got some bad news. Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has just reported that the day of 21st April would be a ‘slow internet day’ for Pakistanis. This time, however, we have no fish involved to take the blame for slow internet. In fact, we have a power cable to take the blame this time. SEA-ME-WE-4 is an optical fiber submarine communications cable system that carries telecommunications among Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Egypt, Italy, Tunisia, Algeria, and France. A failure in this submarine cable is responsible for causing slow broadband speed in Pakistan. Hopefully, this time another fish is not involved.
The sole cause was some power reconfiguration on the section of international submarine cable, SMW4. However, if you are a regular Pakistani who has a life, the slow internet hasn’t affected you. The timings that PTA gave for the slow internet hours were from 2 AM to 7 AM. Chances are, if you are reading it, the internet’s ‘snail connection’ is already over. Of course, if you are a PUBG gamer or someone who loves using the internet at night, this might have presented a problem for you. Especially if you were on the critical episode of that series you have been binge-watching, the hours from 2 AM to 7 AM would have seemed no less than a nightmare. Especially in Pakistan, the date falls in Ramadan when there is usually peak activity near Sehri. For some of us, this must-have presented quite a challenge. Those who had their torrents lined up on BitTorrent must have surely pulled their hair once or twice. The downgraded download speed was the first consequence of such a slow internet.
PTCL was quick to rise to the occasion. The telecom service provider has claimed that they would be shifting to a new channel during the hours of slow internet. The step was taken in order to improve the experience of users. For now, the availability of the internet seems to be usual as the slow internet hours are over now.
