Internet Slowdown Causes Pakistan to Start VPN Registration
Islamabad: Pakistan has started the process of registering virtual private networks (VPN) to help companies and foreign offices keep their operations safe and ongoing. After months of slow Internet speeds that hurt millions of Pakistanis, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) announced this plan on Friday.
Anti-censorship campaigners and business leaders are worried about the slowdown that has been going on for several months. For many, the government is trying to build a fence to keep online areas safe. In the past, the Pakistani government said that the slowdown was caused by more people using VPNs and broken underground lines. They also said that the country is “going through a transition” at the moment.
Recently, the minister in charge of the cabinet division (who is actually the prime minister) admitted to using a Web Monitoring System. Utilizing deep packet analysis technology, this system can identify and stop VPN traffic. This lets the government keep an eye on all Internet traffic coming into or going out of Pakistan. Written answers from August 26 to a question from Pakistani member Shahida Rehmani included this information.
Businesses like software companies, call centres, freelancers, and foreign offices are able to easily register VPNs through a “one-window” process on the websites of the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) and the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA). There is an ongoing process that is being simplified by the Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA), the Ministry of Information Technology (MoIT), and the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB). For VPNs, more than 20,000 Internet Protocol (IP) numbers have been created since 2020.
As problems with the Internet arise, Pakistan’s military says it is fighting “digital terrorism.” The major goal of this digital disruption, according to independent experts, is the party of jailed opposition leader Imran Khan, who is still popular with young, tech-savvy voters in the country.
Shamsa Fatima Khawaja, the State Minister for IT, has repeatedly claimed that the government is to blame for the Internet’s slowdown, saying that it is instead due to more people using VPNs. People are also worried that the planned firewall will be used to control people, but she has played down those worries.
Pakistan depends on its growing IT business to increase exports and bring in much-needed foreign currency.
Nevertheless, experts in the field warn that if the country acts quickly and decisively, it can avoid worsening economic problems and expanding the digital gap. Shahzad Arshad, head member of the Pakistan Association of Wireless Internet Service Providers, stressed this in a statement released earlier this week.
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