Pakistan’s internet backbone has just received a major upgrade with the landing of the SEA-ME-WE 6 submarine cable, a next-generation system that promises faster speeds, lower latency, and far more reliable connectivity for millions of users across the country.
As per the IT Ministry, SEA-ME-WE 6 is a 19,200 km-long high-capacity fibre network linking Pakistan with countries between Singapore and France. The system has a total capacity of over 100 terabits per second (Tbps), and Pakistan’s share is 13.2 Tbps, out of which 4 Tbps has already been activated. That alone significantly boosts the country’s international bandwidth and reduces dependence on a few older cables.
What makes this system special is its design. SEA-ME-WE 6 offers one of the lowest-latency routes between Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Western Europe. It also features more fibre pairs and more than double the capacity of earlier SEA-ME-WE systems, plus geo-diversified crossings through Egypt and multiple landing points. In simple terms: faster, stronger, and more resilient internet, with better backup routes when one path is down.
Read more: Pakistan to link up with new 45,000km 2Africa submarine cable by end of next year
The project is administered by an international consortium that includes Transworld Associates from Pakistan, alongside operators from Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, France, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Malaysia, and Indonesia. This comes on top of other recent cable landings like Africa-1 and Africa-2, further strengthening Pakistan’s position on global data routes.
How This Internet Cable Change Life in Pakistan
Beyond the technical details, the real story is about people:
• Students and Education:
Faster, more stable internet can transform online learning. University and school students will have smoother access to virtual classrooms, digital libraries, research papers, and international courses.
Platforms like Coursera, EdX, and virtual exchange programs become more usable when video calls don’t freeze and downloads don’t take an eternity. For many young people, this means more equal access to quality education, regardless of whether they study in Lahore, Sukkur, or Gilgit.
• Rural and Underserved Areas:
While submarine cables land in coastal cities, the increased capacity trickles inward through national fibre networks. As operators get more bandwidth at lower cost, it becomes easier to expand 4G/5G and fibre into smaller towns and villages.
Over time, telemedicine, e-learning, mobile banking, and e-commerce can reach places that previously had only patchy or painfully slow connections. That’s a step toward bridging the urban–rural digital divide.
• Promoting Equality and Opportunity:
When connectivity improves, it doesn’t just boost entertainment — it opens doors. Freelancers can work for international clients, small businesses can sell online, women and home-based workers can access income opportunities from their homes. Better internet lowers barriers for those who couldn’t travel or relocate to big cities, offering a more level playing field in terms of jobs, skills, and information.
• Economy and Innovation:
The IT ministry highlighted that the new capacity will support
- Cloud services
- Data centres
- Fintech
- e-commerce
- Streaming
- Pakistan’s broader digital economy
Startups and tech companies can operate with more confidence, and global firms are more likely to invest in a country where the digital infrastructure is robust and redundant.
With six international cables already in service, including AAE-1, SMW-4, IMEWE, SMW-5, TWA-1, PEACE — and now SEA-ME-WE 6 added to the mix, Pakistan’s connectivity is slowly shifting from fragile and limited to diverse and future-ready.
If paired with smart policy, fair pricing, and last-mile improvements, this new cable won’t just make the internet faster — it can make opportunity fairer.