Call for stronger digital infrastructure to prevent internet disruption losses

ISLAMABAD: NomadsTech Managing Director Najm us Saqib has expressed deep concern over the internet outages, saying it has cost Pakistan’s economy billions of rupees.

He urged the government to take immediate steps to strengthen the country’s digital infrastructure.

He said, “The suspension of the internet has not only severely damaged startups and IT companies, but also affected the freelancing, e-commerce, and education sectors.

Globally, governments of various countries in 2024 have faced political instability, control over information, and restricted access to the internet on other reasons, resulting in heavy losses to the economies.”

According to independent research, Asia has been the most affected region, with worse results than Europe and the US.

Myanmar, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India were badly affected by the internet disruption problems.

In Myanmar, there were 20,376 hours of suspension, resulting in a loss of $1.58 billion. Similarly, economic losses were estimated at $1.12 billion in Sudan and $796.6 million in Bangladesh.

Najm us Saqib stressed that “Pakistan must take immediate steps to protect itself from such losses in the future. Strong digital infrastructure, redundancy for connectivity, and policy measures that ensure uninterrupted use of the internet are needed,” he said

NomadsTech has offered support to continue its role in Pakistan’s IT sector and meet this challenge. “Reliable internet access is the backbone of modern economies, and Pakistan’s future depends on it,” Saqib said.