Tech Desk 
Dec 30, 2024
While the year 2024 is bidding us farewell with leaps and bounds in various technological domains, Pakistan ranked second globally in 2024 with 1,861 hours of internet shutdowns.
The seemingly honorary ranking was shared by Top10VPN, an independent platform which collects and aggregates data on internet disruptions worldwide.
With Myanmar listed at the top, Pakistan's position in the list of countries with the most internet shutdowns shows that the country remained far from advancement thanks to the intermittent internet shutdowns.
Due to these connectivity discords, skilled and talented citizens in Pakistan providing services to foreign clients were barred from delivering their overseas projects on time, taking a significant toll on the digital economy of the country.
To address the internet crisis and improve the internet speed in the country, the government of Pakistan is landing additional undersea cables while eyeing the implementation of laws like the Digital Nation Pakistan.
The report by the internet monitoring firm noted that these internet disruptions cost Pakistan an estimated loss of $351 million.
Not only in terms of ranking, at 83 million, the number of disconnected internet users in Pakistan alone accounted for more than 40% of the 15 most internet-impaired nations.
