poradic and sluggish internet service and the restraining of social media platforms and messaging application services have impacted the people, especially e-commerce entrepreneurs and freelancers, across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Muhammad Khan runs an e-commerce business. His online store sells women’s fashion products in Pakistan. He offers a wide variety of stylish clothing and accessories to customers nationwide.

Lately, Khan has been facing difficulties because of slow internet speed. Since his business depends on customers being able to access the website easily, slow internet issues have made it harder for customers to shop from him. “Our social media pages are taking longer to load. Slow internet has led to fewer customers staying on our site and browsing through the items, resulting in fewer sales. The problem has made it difficult for us to even update the website and provide quick customer service,” says Muhammad Khan.

To overcome the obstacles of slow internet and limited social messaging services, he resorted to finally installing a free virtual private network (VPN) for the operation. Khan hopes that the internet speed will improve soon, allowing him to offer a better shopping experience to his customers and improve his sales.

Hassan Nisar is the founding CEO of Metrix Pakistan, a youth-led organisation that promotes technology and innovation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Speaking to The News on Sunday, he says that during their last technology summit that was held in Mansehra, they were left handicapped due to a sluggish internet. “Our connection with international speakers was frequently disrupted due to poor internet services. The entire event was affected by the issue.”

“Slow internet connectivity has greatly affected how we interact and work on social media. We depend on social media platforms to engage with our audiences, promote our programmes and demonstrate the impact of our work. However, a disrupted internet connection has made it harder,” says Nisar.

There have been fewer engagements on social posts during live social media interactions because of slow and disrupted internet services, says Nisar. “In this way, we have been unable to communicate effectively or increase our reach to a wider audience.”

“Our ability to grow, innovate and connect globally is hampered by the lack of reliable internet. If the problem remains unresolved, it could have long-term effects on the entire technology ecosystem,” Hassan Nisar says.

Rashid Khan runs an e-commerce business. Unreliable internet connectivity has made him anxious. “Customers send us pictures of dresses and jewellery they want but a slow internet affects the uploading and downloading of these pictures. This has dented our sales.” Khan says he has been losing customers. “Customers have more options these days. They can shop from international e-commerce giants,” Khan says.

Sikandar Zaheer, a content writer, deals with clients at Fiverr, Upwork and Freelancer—major online platforms for freelancers. Zaheer says the recent firewall installation and slow internet services have impacted his work. “Slow internet has affected our response time and prolonged service delivery. This has resulted in the degradation of accounts of several freelancers. Some freelancer accounts have ben suspended for installing VPN,” he adds.

Zaheer says a good response time improves freelancer ratings. He says a good rating is key to attracting international clients. “Now improving profile ratings on these online freelance platforms will take longer.”

Online startups have also been hit hard.

RankingGrow, a digital marketing agency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, relies on fast, stable internet for client communication, campaign management and daily operations. “When the internet slows down, everything gets delayed, hurting our growth,” says Ammad Ali, CEO of RankingGrow.

Ali specialises in SEO, social media marketing and content strategy to help businesses grow online. He says slow internet is a big hurdle in delivering services to his clients. “Slow internet has caused delays in communication, project delivery and file transfers. This affects our productivity and client satisfaction, making it harder to maintain our usual work standards,” he says.

Ali says slow internet is a major setback for digital businesses adding that high-speed, reliable internet is essential for competing globally. “If this problem isn’t fixed, it could seriously damage the progress we’ve made in the digital sector over the years.” Missed deadlines and lost opportunities will harm reputations and could push international clients away from Pakistani freelancers, he warns.

“The government needs to step up and improve the internet infrastructure. We’re also looking at backup solutions to minimise disruptions, but a stable, country-wide fix is essential,” Ali says.

Hassan Nisar says his organisation is constantly exploring alternative solutions to mitigate the impact of these challenges. “But the reality is that without a stable and fast internet infrastructure, our efforts can go only so far. The government and service providers must prioritise the improvement of internet services to ensure that the digital potential of our youth is not stunted.”

“Pakistan’s digital growth relies on solid internet services. To keep moving forward, we need a reliable internet. It’s time for both the government and the private sector to prioritise this issue,” Ammad Ali says.

The writer is a freelance multimedia journalist. He tweets @daudpasaney