3rd consecutive day: users continue to face disruption in various services on mobile broadband in Pakistan

Netizens in Pakistan continued to face disruption in accessing many internet services on mobile broadband for the third consecutive day on Sunday, as the government kept mum on the issue.

Outage tracking website Downdetector confirmed that users had faced issues while accessing WhatsApp, one of the most used messaging platforms in the country.

Multiple users reported that they had been unable to send messages, especially voice notes and photos/videos on WhatsApp while using mobile broadband.

Internet loadshedding?: netizens report disruption in various services on mobile broadband in Pakistan

“While mobile networks have been restored after over 72 hours, WhatsApp continues to be inaccessible on mobile data unless if used with a VPN,” Anas Mallick, a journalist living in Islamabad wrote on X.

Mobile networks had remained suspended in most parts of the twin cities, Islamabad and Rawalpindi, amid a protest call by supporters of the jailed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan.

Downdetector also showed that users faced disruption in accessing Instagram.

The telecom regulator, Pakistan Telecomm­unication Authority (PTA), did not comment on a query by Business Recorder regarding the issue.

Disruption in internet services has become more frequent in the country. The government has on occasions blamed faulty submarine cables and reconfiguration in internet service providers (ISPs), but many analysts say the disruption is the authorities’ go-to-response on days it needs to beef up state security measures.

For years, Pakistan has relied on the strategy to disrupt services to counter terrorism.

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On September 28, Wha­ts­App users across Karachi had faced issues in sending media files through the app while connected to mobile data. The users of the messaging app had reported a similar issue on September 21 as well.

In August, Pakistan also saw severe disruption with internet speeds plummeting and communication services also getting affected.