Internet outages in Pakistan causing losses for freelancers

Internet Outages in Pakistan: A Growing Crisis for Freelancers

Islamabad, Pakistan – Internet blackouts are not new in Pakistan, but the latest ones have reached a worrying level for the increasing number of freelancers in the country. In the last few months, internet shutdowns have become a norm from the government side, which has rendered freelancers stranded and unable to use the tools that are important to them for their income.

The situation worsened in December 2022 when the Egyptians submarine cable that pirated internet traffic to Pakistan was cut. This led to almost two weeks of country-wide blackouts as the backup capacity was grossly insufficient to cope with the situation. These extended interruptions have been devastating to freelancers who provide services to clients in other countries and often work under strict time constraints.

Overseas projects were delayed for Riaz due to inability in accessing internet to complete his designs as a web designer in Lahore. They say: ‘Some clients were understanding, but some others were tactless enough to refuse payment because I failed to meet their strict deadlines due to the internet interruptions. ’ In his estimation, these erratic internet connections have deprived him of $5,000 and more within the last three months only.

Such incidents have become an unenviable norm among freelancers in Pakistan, which has hundreds of thousands of such workers. These individuals are employed as programmers, graphic designers, content writers, and many other professionals to clients across the globe. These services require timely compensation facilitated by global payment platforms such as PayPal, Payoneer or TransferWise. However, these sites were completely out of reach throughout the extended loss of connectivity.

This has been said to be perilous not only for the livelihoods of citizens but also for macroeconomic stability of Pakistan according to economists. Money from the freelancers working in other countries is the flow of foreign exchange for the deteriorating economy. Internet blackouts might slow down this source of income when it is most necessary.

As much as the government may have reasons to disrupt networks for security, the experts opine that the government requires balance solutions that do not deny such many people the technological opportunity to the world economy. Indeed, as one freelancer said while experiencing a recent outage, “For us, no Internet means no income and no future. ” This growing crisis can only be solved by making connectivity an inviolable national priority.