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ISLAMABAD: Sajjad Mustafa Syed, Chairman of the Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA), has pledged to resolve the country’s ongoing slow internet issues within three months. However, concerns are growing that the installation of a new internet firewall may hinder connectivity.
Syed clarified that people in Pakistan have been encountering periodic slowdowns in internet speeds and problems sharing media on platforms like WhatsApp, but these problems are only expected to be temporary. “If a message is being delivered on WhatsApp but a picture is not, it is possible that monitoring is underway,” he said, acknowledging the problems.
Users reportedly have difficulty sending and receiving media files including photos, videos, and voice notes because of the significant impact on WiFi and mobile data connections. Downdetector.com also saw a lot of Gmail outages on Tuesday morning, which shows that the problem is wide.
Govt Addresses Internet Issues Amid System Upgrades
Officials in Pakistan have finally spoken out about the persistent outages, saying that they are updating their “web management system” and putting a new firewall through its paces. Although the precise reason for the current problems is still unknown, trials of this system in July and August had previously caused digital service slowdowns and disruptions.
Despite these problems, Syed denied rumors that IT companies were leaving Pakistan because of the slow internet, saying that no companies had left the country. Using fixed-line internet, he explained, full-time IT workers were unaffected, but part-time workers were having trouble coping with unreliable fixed-line services.
Additionally, Syed discussed the implementation of firewalls and monitoring systems, drawing comparisons between Pakistan’s strategy and that of other nations, such as the US, where law enforcement responds swiftly to instances of unlawful content exchange. According to his speculation, Pakistan’s existing firewall installation might be flawed due to procedural issues.
Information technology specialists have warned that Pakistan is losing billions of rupees daily due to internet interruptions, which has prompted worries about the effect on the country’s economy.
