Pakistan’s internet connectivity is set for a significant upgrade with the deployment of the SEA-ME-WE 6 submarine cable, the Information Technology Ministry announced on Saturday. The cable, stretching 19,200 km, links Pakistan with countries from Singapore to France, establishing a high-capacity fibre network that promises to transform the nation’s digital infrastructure.
The SEA-ME-WE 6 cable boasts a total capacity exceeding 100 terabits per second, offering one of the lowest-latency routes between Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Western Europe.
Pakistan has been allocated 13.2 Tbps on this network, with 4 Tbps activated immediately, expanding international bandwidth and enhancing services across cloud computing, data centres, fintech, e-commerce, streaming platforms, and the broader digital economy.
Compared with previous SEA-ME-WE systems, SEA-ME-WE 6 provides more fibre pairs and over double the capacity, improving resilience and diversifying connectivity across high-traffic Asia-Europe routes.
The system features trans-Egypt geo-diversified crossings and landing points, enabling rapid scalability, enhanced fault protection, and lower network ownership costs for participating service providers. It also adds a critical redundancy layer to the global internet backbone.
The consortium behind SEA-ME-WE 6 includes Pakistan’s Transworld Associates, Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company, Bharti Airtel, Dhiraagu, Djibouti Telecom, Mobily, Orange, Singtel, Sri Lanka Telecom, Telecom Egypt, Telekom Malaysia, and Telin.
This follows other recent submarine cable projects in Pakistan, such as Africa-1 and Africa-2, which were landed in Karachi earlier this year by PTCL and Transworld Associates, respectively.
Currently, Pakistan’s internet is served by six major submarine cables: AAE-1, SMW-4, IMEWE, SMW-5, TWA-1, and PEACE, operated by PTCL, Transworld Associates, and Cyber Internet Services.
With the addition of SEA-ME-WE 6, Pakistan strengthens its global digital connectivity, supporting faster, more reliable internet access while positioning itself for sustained growth in the digital economy, cloud computing, and international data services. The launch is expected to benefit businesses, consumers, and government services alike, marking a major milestone in Pakistan’s ICT infrastructure development.
