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Pakistani IT associations and industry experts have called on the government to expedite the rollout of 5G services and address ongoing issues with slow Internet speeds, as the country faces significant economic losses due to Internet disruptions, The Express Tribune reported.
According to a recent report by global Internet monitor Top10VPN.com, Pakistan faced highest economic losses in the world due to Internet outages in 2024, with total losses amounting to USD 1.62 billion. The amount was more than losses faced in conflict-hit nations like Sudan and Myanmar. According to the report published on January 2, Pakistan faced 9,735 hours of Internet disruptions, which affected 82.9 million users. The Internet disruptions were particularly due to political events, including elections and protests, The Express Tribune reported. Earlier in December, the Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) warned that the country's IT sector was at risk of facing annual financial losses of up to USD 150 million due to slow Internet speeds and restrictions on Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). "Pakistan suffers a loss of more than one million dollars per hour on account of Internet shutdowns in the country," The Express Tribune quoted P@SHA Chairman Sajjad Mustafa Syed as saying. Calling for urgent action, Syed urged the government to accelerate the rollout of 5G through a spectrum auction planned for March 2025. Furthermore, he called for the fibre-opticisation of cell towers and the installation of new undersea cables to improve connectivity. In recent years, Pakistan's IT industry has witnessed positive growth, with IT-related exports reaching USD 3.2 billion in the 2023-24 fiscal year. However, Syed warned that frequent disruptions could affect the government's target of USD 15 billion in IT exports for the current fiscal year, The Express Tribune reported. Pakistan Freelancers Association (PAFLA) President Tufail Ahmed Khan spoke about the impact of Internet slowdowns on the country's freelance workers. He called on the government to make policies more Internet and VPN-friendly, stressing that this would encourage freelancers to bring more foreign remittances into the country and reduce pressure on government employment schemes. Former P@SHA chairman Zohaib Khan expressed concerns over the long-term affect of Internet shutdowns on Pakistan's international reputation. He said, "Reports of Internet shutdowns are damaging Pakistan's brand image on the global stage, which indirectly impacts the industry." He urged freelancers to work from co-working spaces when outages occur to minimise disruption to their work, according to The Express Tribune report. The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) arranged temporary bandwidth to address disruptions created by a fault in the Asia-Africa-Europe-1 (AAE-1) submarine cable, which impacted the country's Internet performance. The AAE-1 cable is one of the seven international undersea cables that connects Pakistan to global networks. The PTA has also announced plans to increase Internet speeds and connectivity by joining the 2Africa submarine cable system later this year. (ANI)
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