The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has concluded its investigation into the recent internet slowdown across the country and submitted a comprehensive report to the Ministry of Information Technology.
The investigation identified increased usage of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) as a significant factor contributing to bandwidth strain, prompting the PTA to recommend an increase in bandwidth to meet growing internet demand.
The PTA report compiled details from all telecom operators, including PTCL, highlighting the issues experienced on their networks. The slowdown impacted social media usage, web browsing, and over-the-top (OTT) platforms, with users reporting reduced performance and disruptions.
The investigation revealed:
- Complaints of blocking issues on social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
- Decreased data traffic on several major applications, including TikTok.
- Performance issues on popular OTT platforms.
- Fixed-line operators like PTCL also reported disruptions in social media services during the slowdown.
Users faced significant delays in video streaming, voice and video calls, and general web browsing. Telecom operators noted the challenges they encountered, but web browsing and data services were reported to be minimally affected compared to other applications.
In its report, the PTA emphasized the urgent need to increase bandwidth to alleviate the burden caused by rising VPN usage. The authority has urged telecom operators to adapt their infrastructure to cope with growing internet demand, particularly for bandwidth-heavy activities such as streaming and real-time communications.
