IT Secretary Dr Zarar Hashim admitted on Thursday that the disruption in Pakistan’s internet services, caused by damage to undersea cables, may take four to five weeks to be fully restored. The statement, though candid, should alarm anyone who understands the centrality of connectivity in today’s world. Four weeks of weak or unstable internet is not merely an inconvenience — it is a national handicap.
From banking transactions to online education, from e-commerce to health services, Pakistan’s digital life depends almost entirely on vulnerable undersea links. This latest outage has once again exposed the fragility of our infrastructure and the absence of viable alternatives. In a country aspiring to build a digital economy, such prolonged disruptions are simply unaffordable.
The irony is that alternatives already exist. Five major international satellite internet providers — OneWeb (Eutelsat Group), Amazon’s Project Kuiper, SpaceCell (SSST), Starlink and Telesat — are ready to roll out services in Pakistan. These platforms promise fast, reliable internet delivered from space, bypassing the chokepoints of terrestrial and undersea cables. Countries worldwide are embracing them not only for speed, but for resilience.
Yet in Pakistan, their launch remains stuck in bureaucratic limbo. Regulatory indecision, licensing hurdles and institutional turf wars have delayed what could be a transformative leap for connectivity. The longer we stall, the more we deny our citizens, students and entrepreneurs’ access to the global digital economy.
The undersea cable outage must serve as a wake-up call. Satellite internet should not be treated as a luxury but as an essential backup for national security, economic stability and social progress. Rather than fearing disruption to existing telecom structures, policymakers must recognise that resilience and competition are in the best interests of the people.
Pakistan can either continue patching up a fragile system or boldly embrace the future by welcoming satellite internet. The choice is clear — but the question is, do we have the will to make it?
Rukaiya Ashraf Abbasi
Karachi
