MoITT Highlights Causes of Internet Slowdown, Announces Key Upgrades

The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT) enlisted multiple causes of internet slowdown in the country, including spectrum, deployment of Fiber to the Home (FTTH) backhaul, Right of Way (RoW) constraints, load shedding, lower fiber-to-tower ratio, theft, vandalism and excessive VPN usage.

The Ministry submitted to the National Assembly slowness in internet speed cannot be attributed to a single impediment; rather, multiple factors need to be addressed, including the availability of additional spectrum, deployment of Fiber to the Home (FTTH) backhaul, Right of Way (RoW) constraints, load shedding, lower fiber-to-tower ratio, theft and vandalism, etc. Additionally, excessive VPN usage impacts speed and user experience, as most traffic is routed through international networks instead of Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) and Internet Exchange Points (IXPs).

MoITT Highlights Causes of Internet Slowdown, Announces Key Upgrades

The cuts in international submarine cables also cause slowness in internet and social media applications.

Currently, no major issue is reported with regard to internet connectivity, and its utilisation through submarine cables has now touched 10Tbps as compared to 8Tbps last year. PTA licensees are also in the process of adding new submarine routes, which are expected to further enhance the quality and redundancy of internet connectivity.

In addition, GoP has initiated the process for the release of additional spectrum, total of 597 MHz of spectrum (more than 200% the existing spectrum) in multiple bands has been made available for the upcoming spectrum auction. It will significantly enhance the quality, capacity, and speed of mobile broadband services across the country.

Measures taken to enhance internet access in the country include:

Infrastructure Upgrades

• Installation of 12,000 new sites in the last six years and upgrading existing 2G sites to 4G.
• Deployment of advanced technologies such as sector splitting and Massive MIMO.
• Introduction of VoWiFi and VoLTE.
• Phasing out of 3G for better utilization of spectrum.
• Introduction of active infrastructure sharing.

Network Rollouts

• Aggressive rollout obligations are included in new and renewed licenses issued by PTA.
• Year-on-year (YoY) increase of 3% in population coverage per province, with 445 new sites added annually.

National Roaming & 5G

• Launch of National Roaming Facility along the Makran Coastal Highway and other remote areas.
• Availability of additional spectrum for the deployment of new technologies such as 5G.

Others

• Nationwide OSS (Operations Support System) KPIs analysis.
• Addition of five new submarine cables in the coming months and years, including:
  • Africa-1
  • 2Africa
  • Sea-Me-We 6
  • Makran Gulf Gateway-1

  • PEACE

See Also: MoITT Teams Up with Meta for AI Training Program for University Teachers