Pakistan experienced a nationwide internet slowdown after a major upstream network provider suffered a temporary breakdown, disrupting connectivity across multiple cities, official sources confirmed on Thursday. The outage reduced available bandwidth for several internet service providers, leading to slower speeds and intermittent access for residential and enterprise users.
According to service provider disclosures, one of the upstream providers supplying bulk internet capacity to local networks became non operational, forcing traffic to be rerouted through secondary links. While contingency measures were activated, capacity limitations resulted in noticeable performance degradation across the country.
Nayatel & Hum News confirmed that one of its two upstream providers was affected, impacting overall network throughput. The company said its technical teams were working closely with the upstream operator to restore services, though no definitive timeline was provided.
Industry experts note that upstream providers form the backbone of national internet connectivity, supplying international and domestic traffic to ISPs. When a single upstream link fails, rerouting can only partially compensate, especially during peak usage periods. As a result, services such as online banking, video conferencing, cloud platforms, and digital payments are often among the first to experience disruption.
