General Manager PTCL Shaukat Khaaja Khel on Tuesday said that the torrential rains and flash flood have damaged of fiber optic cable and internet services were suspended in 80 percent area of the province. Voice and data services have badly been affected after heavy downpour and floods. In Balochistan, 2 out of 3 fiber optic cables were washed away in flash floods at several places. However, PTCL landline and internet services have been partially restored in some districts of the province.
He said the third cable near Mastung district was also broken due to sinking into the ground and due to fiber optic failure; internet service was completely suspended in Quetta. However, it was later partially restored, and it may take several days to fully restore Internet and landline services as repair work on two other damaged fiber optic cables will take time. “PTCL provides Internet services to 70,000 customers in Balochistan, but due to the recent bad weather conditions, it has been interrupted,” he added.
It may be mentioned here that mobile service of some of the service providers is yet not fully restored. Meanwhile, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), official said that due to torrential rains and flash floods in Balochistan and damage to optical fiber cable, mobile and internet services were shut down to parts of the province. “Efforts are being made to fix the issue at earliest. PTA is monitoring the situation and further updates will be shared.”
