Over 120 cuts were made to the optical fiber system at various points during the devastating floods that hit the nation.
Officials with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) report that over 250 bridges have been destroyed nationwide as a result of floods.
In the majority of cases, the optical cables and bridges were carried away by the floodwater. More than 120 places across the country had optical fibers cut.
Two to four cuts are typically made to the optical fiber each year under normal circumstances. In an ideal setting, it takes three to four hours to splice an optical fiber cut.
As bridges carried away the optical fiber with them and there was no communication system on either side of the water, the situation in the flood-affected areas was not good.
The devastating flood wrecked optical fiber rings that connected various regions of the nation in addition to the north-south and center systems.
Under the direction of PTA, teams from PTCL, Wateen, and Linked.net worked round-the-clock to repair the optical fiber.
Only two days—August 19 and August 23—during this time period saw internet outages in various regions of the nation, which were quickly fixed.
Federal Minister Syed Amin Ul Haq, has also praised the telecommunications industry’s efforts to restore the communication system under unusual conditions, according to MoITT.
The ongoing rescue and recovery efforts in the impacted areas will move more quickly once the communication and optical fiber infrastructure are back up and running.
To read our blog on “IT Ministry proposes the initiative of Rs. 5 billion optical fiber cable projects,” click here.
