Transworld Associates has notified customers of a scheduled maintenance activity on one of Pakistan’s submarine cables, set to begin on April 9 at 6:30 PM Pakistan Standard Time and run through April 13 at 5:00 AM Pakistan Standard Time. During this roughly four-day window, users are expected to experience service degradation, slower speeds and higher latency. The maintenance is being carried out by Transworld’s international partners.
The impact will not be limited to Transworld Home’s own retail customers. Transworld Associates operates as one of Pakistan’s two primary international bandwidth providers alongside PTCL. The company owns and operates the TW1 submarine cable, the only privately owned submarine fibre optic cable in Pakistan, and serves as the landing party for the SMW-5 cable.
It also holds consortium membership in the SEA-ME-WE 6 cable and recently landed the 2Africa cable at its Hawksbay, Karachi cable landing station. This makes Transworld a critical upstream bandwidth provider for a significant portion of Pakistan’s internet infrastructure.
Multiple ISPs across the country purchase international bandwidth from Transworld. Nayatel, one of Pakistan’s largest fibre-to-the-home providers operating in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar and Faisalabad, relies in part on Transworld bandwidth for international connectivity.
A similar maintenance event in January 2026 prompted Nayatel to notify its own customers of expected slowdowns, though that maintenance was ultimately postponed. Other ISPs and corporate clients that route traffic through Transworld’s infrastructure are also likely to feel the effects. Pakistan’s internet backbone runs through just two major submarine cable operators, PTCL and Transworld, which means any maintenance or disruption on either side affects a large portion of the country’s users.
Many smaller and mid-sized ISPs that do not have their own submarine cable landing rights purchase international bandwidth from Transworld. This is particularly common in:
- Sindh (Karachi, Hyderabad, interior Sindh)
- Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Peshawar and surrounding areas)
Pakistan currently connects to the global internet through seven active submarine cables, all landing in Karachi. PTCL manages the AAE-1, SMW-4 and IMEWE cables. Transworld operates TW1 and SMW-5. Cybernet’s subsidiary operates the PEACE cable. The 2Africa and SEA-ME-WE 6 cables are the newest additions, both landing at Transworld’s cable station, and are expected to add significant capacity once fully operational.
Pakistan’s internet infrastructure is already under strain from the broader regional disruptions caused by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Submarine cables running through or near the Gulf region face heightened risk during the current geopolitical environment.
While Transworld described this as routine scheduled maintenance carried out by international partners, the four-day duration is longer than typical maintenance windows, which often last between 8 and 24 hours.
Check with your ISP directly if you experience extended outages.
Transworld’s customer support is reachable at 1837 or via email csd@tes.com.pk.
