Islamabad (TDI): Minister of State for Information Technology and Telecommunications Shaza Fatima Khawaja has said that deployment of 2 Africa Submarine Cable System is a key step to transform Pakistan into a digitally connected nation.
Speaking about the progress of the cable system, the State Minister said the arrangement will not only revamp the country’s infrastructure (Digital) but will also improve internet speed and its reliability.
The second phase of the deployment of the 2 Africa cable in Pakistan will be start next year. Work on the deployment of the cables and revamping the system is being carried out in multiple phases, of which phase one is already underway.
Read More: Pakistan’s Internet Outage Could Continue till October: PTA
The 2 Africa Submarine Cable System is one of the largest and most advanced undersea cable projects in the world that spans at 45,000 kilometers connecting 46 locations across Africa, Europe, and the Middle East.
Minister is Aware of the Issue
A statistical data, Statista, reveals that the internet shutdowns have cost more than Rs65 billion to Pakistan’s economy in 2023 alone.
Also Read: Slow Internet: Pakistan IT Sector Losing Rs 1.3 Billion Daily
And Internet shutdowns in 2023 caused loss of a total of $237.6 million to Pakistan’s economy and had affected almost 83 million Pakistanis.
Whereas the total number of shutdown duration stood at 259 hours in total, reflects Statista’s latest data. This year the losses are higher than the previous year.
The issue and the statistics were discussed in the parliament recently.
