Pakistan’s international internet capacity has received a major upgrade following the activation of the South-East Asia–Middle East–Western Europe 6 (SEA-ME-WE 6) submarine cable system, the Ministry of Science and Technology announced on Saturday.

The new 19,200-kilometre fibre-optic network connects Pakistan to key global digital hubs from Singapore to France, significantly improving the country’s online speed and network resilience.

According to the ministry, SEA-ME-WE 6 is designed to deliver over 100 terabits per second (Tbps) of total system capacity, making it one of the highest-capacity and lowest-latency routes linking Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Western Europe.

Pakistan Receives 13.2 Tbps — 4 Tbps Activated Immediately

Under the deployment plan, Pakistan has been allocated 13.2 Tbps, out of which 4 Tbps has already been activated, marking one of the most substantial bandwidth boosts in recent years.

The additional capacity is expected to enhance the performance of:

• Cloud services

• Data centres

• Fintech platforms

• E-commerce businesses

• Streaming services

• Digital enterprises

Officials say this upgrade will significantly strengthen Pakistan’s digital infrastructure and help support the rapidly growing online economy.

Higher Capacity & Stronger Resilience

The SEA-ME-WE 6 system includes more fibre pairs and double the capacity of earlier SEA-ME-WE networks, ensuring improved resilience on high-traffic Asia–Europe data routes.

The ministry added that the system offers:

• Geo-diversified crossings through Egypt

• Enhanced fault protection

• Faster scalability

• Lower operational costs for telecom operators

These features contribute to greater redundancy for global internet connectivity and add a critical new layer to Pakistan’s digital backbone.

Recent Submarine Cable Developments

Earlier this year, in February 2025, Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTCL) successfully landed the Africa-1 submarine cable in Karachi, further strengthening the country’s international connectivity corridor.

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ISLAMABAD: In a candid admission on the floor of the National Assembly, Minister of State for Information Technology and Telecommunication, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, revealed on Friday that no investment has been made in Pakistan’s telecom infrastructure over the past three years. The minister attributed the stagnation to the financial turmoil inherited from the previous government, which left the country on the brink of economic collapse.

Internet and VPNs Functional, Says IT Minister

During the Question Hour, the minister addressed concerns raised by PPP lawmaker Shazia Marri regarding sluggish internet speeds and the suspension of VPNs, which have disrupted access to apps like WhatsApp. Khawaja assured the house that internet services, including VPNs and WhatsApp, were fully operational. She urged Ms. Marri to provide specific examples of malfunctioning VPNs or industries facing issues, emphasizing that industries relying on fixed-line connections had not reported significant problems.

Blame on the Previous Government

Responding to criticism, the minister laid the blame for the telecom sector’s lack of growth squarely on the previous PTI government. She stated that the country’s inability to import critical telecom equipment due to frozen letters of credit and fears of default had severely hindered infrastructure development.

“Telecom infrastructure is entirely import-based. When the PTI government left in 2022, no one was willing to open letters of credit due to the looming threat of default,” Khawaja explained.

She also noted the absence of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the sector over the same period.

Hopes for Economic Recovery and FDI

Highlighting recent improvements in Pakistan’s macroeconomic indicators, Khawaja expressed optimism that stable currency rates, lower inflation, and reduced interest rates would attract foreign investment. “With these positive changes, we expect FDI to flow into the telecom sector, enabling us to improve internet availability and infrastructure,” she said.

Progress and Challenges in Connectivity

The minister outlined several developments to improve connectivity. Pakistan currently has seven submarine cables, although one has reached the end of its lifespan. The Africa-2 cable has landed in the country and is expected to become operational within months, boosting internet capacity. Additionally, the Pakistan-China optic-fiber cable has been operationalized, and plans are underway to connect submarine cables to Central Asian states via the Wakhan corridor.

Despite these advancements, Khawaja acknowledged congestion in internet services, citing a lack of investment, limited spectrum, and submarine cable capacity constraints.

IT Export Growth

Khawaja also pointed to a 28% increase in Pakistan’s IT services export remittances, which reached $1.86 billion in the first half of the current financial year. This, she claimed, demonstrated improvements in internet speed and usage.

Opposition Protest Halts Proceedings

Meanwhile, the National Assembly session was marred by persistent protests from PTI members for the fifth consecutive day. Opposition lawmakers disrupted proceedings by raising slogans, thumping desks, and pointing out a lack of quorum. Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, visibly frustrated, adjourned the session until Monday evening after failing to complete even the Question Hour.

The ongoing political turmoil, coupled with the challenges in the telecom sector, underscores the urgent need for sustained investment and policy reforms to address Pakistan’s digital infrastructure woes.

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At Higher Education Commission office in Islamabad an internet exchange point has been established. It aims to connect people.

As said by Anusha Rehman, “We aim to connect the unconnected and aim at providing ICT services to the youth of the whole country which will surely change the fate of the people of un-served and under-served areas.”

Anusha Rehman is the Minister for Information Technology.

IXP intends to be a platform for all local internet service providers (ISPs).

It aims to enable direct connection of internet without interference of any third party.

Anusha also said, “No government can work alone, we need to work together as a team with the public and private sector so that we can achieve our universal goals.”

She further added,

“In the last three years the private sector has volunteered itself for all public sector initiative although there was some reluctance on this in the past she noted. Public and private sector have now teamed up with us to overcome hurdles.”

According to her the exchange point is a part of their new telecommunication policy. The policy was released just last year by the government.

“Steps are being taken under the telecommunication policy to take Pakistan to its ultimate destination as a key player in IT,”

she said.

On the occasion of inauguration the Chairman of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority had a lot to say. According to him the establishment of IXP came into being after consultation from all the stakeholders.

He also said,

“International best practices were followed and five working groups were formed having representation from all stakeholders, focusing on all aspect of the establishment of IXP for Pakistan.”

Before this Chief of HEC, Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed had said, ” Ministry of IT, HEC and PTA need to work together to obtain the benefits of IT tools and technologies.”

He added,

“The HEC was playing its part to facilitate higher education institutions with ICT services. Over seven national telecom and internet carriers are part of PKIX, while the hardware for the point has been provided by Huawei.”

This IXP is just the beginning. Point in Islamabad is just a start the program will soon expand in Regional Internet Exchange Points Lahore, Karachi and Quetta.

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Transworld Associates (TWA) are enhancing their bandwidth capacity by up to four times. Transworld Association provides Pakistan with Internet and Voice Data Services. Internet Bandwidth increased by up to 4x. TWA operate fiber optics that is under sea.

On Thursday according to a press release that the technology had become advanced with changes by the developers,

“its main endpoints are carrier-neutral, open Points-of-Presence (PoPs) and not Cable Landing Stations (CLS).”

Linette Lee who is Management Committee’s chair person said,

“The completion of the project is a landmark system upgrade for all data users worldwide. This system facilitates a new age of digital transformation and innovation, catalyzing greater economic activities, trade and growth across three continents.”

TWA marketing manager Bilal Mughal said while talking to TR Pakistan,

It would be a matter of days before end users could get enhanced speeds after ISPs and cellular services providers request bandwidth upgrades”

Other 15 members of the SEA-ME-WE 5 Consortium are:

Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited, China Mobile International, China Telecom Global, China United Network Communications Group Company Limited, Djibouti Telecom, Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company, Myanmar Post and Telecom, Ooredoo, Orange, PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia International, Saudi Telecom Company, Singapore Telecommunications Ltd, Sparkle, Sri Lanka Telecom PLC, Telecom Egypt, Telekom Malaysia Berhad, TeleYemen, and Turk Telekom International.

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The latency rate is increasing for local traffic within the country. There is a great interval of time in stimulation and response. That is creating problems for the servers and customers. To reduce this effect the Internet Exchange Point (IXP) has been introduced in Pakistan. It is the first of its kind. This is like a bridge between two lands. This bridge links Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Contact Delivery Networks (CDNs) to exchange network traffic.
Initially IXP is a connection which lets two networks to connect directly without any interference from other networks. This is one to one link, making it easier for all networks.

Days back before the arrival of Internet Exchange Point the networks from abroad were routed using different proxies. The proxies were even used for traffic within Pakistan. Local connections will be allowed which will lower the pings and feedback time for local connections. The Pakistan Telecommunication authority allowed the construction of IXP on Pakistan. With the association of Internet Society (ISOC) it was introduced first time in Pakistan. IXP is located in the grounds of Higher Education Commission (HEC).

According to the sources, This testing is no longer than two weeks. If it is successful in Pakistan than it will be formally established in the country.

Govt is intending to establish more Internet Exchange Point in Lahore and Karachi very soon. Being a vital part of Telecommunication Policy 2015, Internet Exchange Point has now been established.

The policy is as follows:
“Internet and other traffic will be exchanged within Pakistan using local peering or exchange points as far as it is possible to do so, recognizing that the use of international peering points in other countries imposes an unnecessary cost burden and a potential security risk” “PTA will take appropriate measures in consultation with stakeholders to encourage establishment of local peering and exchange points of IP traffic on legally established gateways in Pakistan”

How does the Internet Exchange Point work? Now you don’t need to search any foreign networks because when you use local ISP a ping is sent to hosting server, for instance on Transworld and then IXP is used to route traffic located outside Pakistan. After that it will be sent to our local IXP once it is established.

The distance matters a lot in these kinds of networks. The distance between client and the main server is shorter but still the latency rate is high it increases because local internet request has to cover huge distance. It has to travel all the way to the hosting Internet Exchange Point to be routed back to the local server resulting in low data transfer rates.

The introduction of IXP is a great benefit to all networks. It is an important advancement in field of technology. It will provide a better communication, full on customer satisfaction, efficient business and a lot more.

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