Ahmed Shamim Pirzada, the Director General of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), shared on Monday that recent internet service disruptions were caused by technical glitches and might linger for the next 2 to 3 months.
During a press conference with Caretaker Minister for Information and Broadcasting Murtaza Solangi and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Cybercrime Director Operations Waqaruddin Syed, Pirzada clarified that ongoing system upgrades were behind these disruptions.
In response to a query, he dismissed any connection between the disruptions and the online activities of a political party.
The caretaker information minister echoed this, attributing the disruptions to technical issues related to system installations. He emphasized that there’s no guarantee such problems won’t recur in the near future.
It’s worth noting that social media platforms faced accessibility issues in Pakistan three times in just over a month—first on December 17, then on January 7, and most recently on January 20.
Interestingly, these disruptions coincided with a pre-announced online activity of a political party. Following the latest disruption on January 20, PTA issued a statement attributing the internet service disruption to a technical fault.