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January 8, 2025 - Comments Off on Starlink, other LEO Licences Being Reviewed for Pakistan

Starlink, other LEO Licences Being Reviewed for Pakistan

Starlink’s license to operate in Pakistan is being reviewed, said Pakistan’s federal Minister for IT, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, bringing the satellite internet network owned by Elon Musk one step closer to possibly operating in Pakistan. Though the company has been registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), it does not yet have a license to operate in the country.

Starlink is one of three of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) operators vying to provide satellite internetas reported by Geo TV on January 14. Satellite internet is in increasing demand, owing to ongoing internet disruptions and shutdowns, as well as internet infrastructural issues. OneWeb and Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST) are also looking to enter the Pakistani market, but as with Starlink have yet to receive licenses that permit them to operate in the country.

At present, High Earth Orbit (HEO) satellite providers do operate in (or more accurately, above) Pakistan, providing satellite television and telecommunication services to Pakistanis. Interestingly, and according to The News of Pakistan, many of the HEOs operating in Pakistan have not registered with the SECP, calling into question regulation compliance requirements.

January 6, 2025 - Comments Off on Roll out 5G now to tackle slow Internet, says IT Industry

Roll out 5G now to tackle slow Internet, says IT Industry

Hashtag(s): #InternetShutdowns, #5G, #Keepiton, #InternetAccess.

Frequent internet shutdowns and disruptions are causing severe economic losses for
Pakistan, and the government must now roll out 5G to tackle this crisis, according to
Pakistan’s IT industry. As the independent VPN review website TopVPN observed in their
report on the economic impacts of global internet shutdowns, Pakistan was the most
severely impacted, suffering a US$1.62 billion hit to the economy, and with 82.9 million
users being affected. Coupled with statements made by the head of P@SHA last month
claiming that Pakistan risks facing yearly financial losses up to US$150 million, the IT
industry has called for the rollout of 5G to be sped up, through a March 2025 spectrum
auction. The head of P@SHA has also pushed for new undersea cables to be installed, and
for cell towers to be enhance for fibre-optic capabilities.

January 6, 2025 - Comments Off on Starlink “waiting for approval from the government”: Musk

Starlink “waiting for approval from the government”: Musk

Hashtag(s): #Internet, #ElonMusk, #InternetAccess.
Starlink, the satellite internet network owned by Elon Musk, could be coming to Pakistan,
according to an X/Twitter conversation between Musk and a Pakistani X user, and which
has been picked up by Pakistani news outlets. When asked by the X user over the weekend
to bring Starlink to Pakistan, Musk replied, via his own account, that “We are awaiting for
approval from the government”. This appears to be borne out by IT Minister Shaza Fatima,
who responded, when asked by journalists at Starlink, that “It is registered, and the
licensing is in process.”
Given frequent internet shutdowns, as well as ongoing issues with internet infrastructure
in Pakistan, calls for Starlink to come to Pakistan, as a means of bypassing these issues, are
on the surface understandable. Starlink, however, has proven to be controversial, with
access in Ukraine being temporarily halted for political reasons, as well as in Gaza.

January 4, 2025 - Comments Off on Underwater Cables Reason for Internet Slowdown: IT Minister

Underwater Cables Reason for Internet Slowdown: IT Minister

Hashtag: #InternetAccess, #DigitalPakistan, #InternetInfrastructure.

International submarine cables are responsible for slow internet speeds over the weekend,
and this is being rectified, according to IT Minister Shaza Fatima. According to IT Minister
Fatima and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, the submarine cable known as
Asia-Africa-Europe 1 (or AAE-1) suffered a fault around Qatar, that caused a severe
degradation in the quality and speed of internet access in Pakistan. According the Minister
and the PTA, “the issue of degradation of Internet services due to fault in AAE1 submarine
cable on January 2, 2025 ad hoc bandwidth has been arranged and added in the system”.
According to additional reports, a new underwater cable is being laid that will provide
more stable internet connections, via system called the “2Africa Submarine Cable”, backed
by a consortium that includes Meta, China Mobile and the Saudi Telecom Company. The
Minister and PTA did not address earlier internet disruptions, however, which have been
attributed by rights groups to the development of the internet “firewall” or Web
Management System.

January 4, 2025 - Comments Off on Internet Shutdowns Cost Pakistan US$1.62 Billion: Report

Internet Shutdowns Cost Pakistan US$1.62 Billion: Report

Hashtag(s): #InternetShutdowns, #KeepItOn,
Internet shutdowns over the course of 2024 has cost the Pakistani economy US$1.62
billion, according to a report by TopVPN, an independent VPN review website. According
to TopVPN, government-mandated internet shutdowns in 2024 resulted in a global
economic cost of US$7.69 billion, of which Pakistan was the most severely impacted,
followed by Myanmar (US$ 1.58 billion) and Sudan (US$1.12 billion). This is a drastic
increase from 2023, where the total cost to Pakistan was US$237.6 million, according to
TopVPN’s report for 2023. In additional to the economic cost, the TopVPN estimates that
82.9 million users in Pakistan were negatively affected over the course of 2024.
According to the report, 82.9 million internet users in Pakistan were impacted by the
shutdowns, with “Peaceful Protest” and “Free & Fair Elections”, two other benchmarks,
were also impacted, as can be confirmed by the ongoing ban on X (Formerly Twitter). The
report also highlighted that social media platforms, X in particular, were a key target of
internet shutdowns in 2024, worldwide.
TopVPN calculated the economic costs of internet shutdowns by “using the Netblocks Cost
of Shutdown Tool, which is based on the Brookings Institution method, with CIPESA’s
specialized model used for sub-Saharan Africa. Regional shutdown costs are derived
from the region’s economic output as a proportion of national GDP.”

January 1, 2025 - Comments Off on 2 VPN Providers have registered with PTA

2 VPN Providers have registered with PTA

Hashtag: #VPN

Contrary to reports circulating at the end of 2024, the PTA has reported that two VPN
service providers have applied for VPN licenses in Pakistan, as part of the government’s
“localised” VPN scheme, with their applications under review. The PTA was unable to ban
unregistered VPNs after the Ministry of Law issued a legal opinion stating that the PECA’s
articles on social media did not cover “tools” used to access said platforms, and introduced
localised VPN registration as a means of bypassing this issue. Promoted as a means of
striking a “balance” between cybersecurity and privacy, rights organisations and citizens
have relayed concerns that “localised” VPNs, with user data stored in Pakistan, runs the
risk of giving PTA and the government more powers to monitor users, negating the basis
for VPN usage in the first place, particularly if sensitive information is being shared.

December 24, 2024 - Comments Off on Bilawal advocate “bill of rights” for digital age

Bilawal advocate “bill of rights” for digital age

It is time to draft a “digital bill of rights”, said PPP leader Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, in an attempt to create further space between him and the government regarding the latter’s controversial direction regarding VPNs and internet disruptions in recent months.

Though he agreed that security measures should be taken to tackle disinformation and misinformation, Bhutto-Zardari said that “babus and politicians sitting in Islamabad do not understand” the internet, and that the government was seeking to control people “in the shape [of controlling] bandwidth, optical fibre and wireless internet.”

Calling upon young people to contribute to and develop a draft “bill of rights”,  Bhutto-Zardari said that he would table the draft in the National Assembly once the draft had been prepared through a consultative process.

“I will believe access to the internet should be declared a fundamental right, like [the right to a clean] environment was declared a fundamental right in the 26th amendment. Affordable, equitable access to high speed internet should be a fundamental right,” said  Bhutto-Zardari.

December 24, 2024 - Comments Off on Govt Introduces new localised VPN Scheme

Govt Introduces new localised VPN Scheme

Unsuccessful in its previous attempts to register and penalise unregistered VPNs, owing to a lack of legal support, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has introduced a new licensing category, in the hope that it will boot registrations of VPNs. According to Dawn, a press release by the PTA states that “VPN service providers are required to obtain Class Licence for Data (Data Services) to provide VPN and related services,” so that local  internet service providers will, in theory, be able to provide VPN and other forms of proxy services to their users.

The “localised” registrations of VPNs was floated by P@SHA, arguing that this would help Pakistan’s freelancers, impacted ongoing internet disruptions. Companies that plan to provide localised VPN services would pay PTA a licence fee – PKR 300,000 to offer nationwide services, PKR 100,000 to do within one province – with the licence lasting 15 years, subject to renewal. As rights activists and tech experts point out, however, the localisation strategy is a “futile exercise”, as it gives more surveillance powers to authorities and negates the whole purpose of VPNs – which could discourage users and international entities, both of whom would just switch to other options.

December 23, 2024 - Comments Off on Bilawal criticises internet restrictions, advocates for digital rights amid government tensions

Bilawal criticises internet restrictions, advocates for digital rights amid government tensions

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari criticised recent internet slowdowns and restrictions this Monday, describing them as efforts to control and censor citizens. Users have reported sluggish speeds and difficulties accessing platforms, which digital analysts attribute to government testing of a ‘firewall’ capable of monitoring and blocking content. The government claims these measures are part of a 'web management system' upgrade for enhanced cybersecurity. This issue has intensified tensions between the PPP and the federal government, with senior PPP officials expressing a lack of confidence in the government's actions. Addressing a convocation at Sindh University, Bilawal emphasised the need for a "digital bill of rights" to ensure equitable access to high-speed internet, labeling it a fundamental human right. He urged youth involvement in drafting this bill to safeguard digital freedoms and counter misinformation.

 

His comments echo concerns raised by PPP members of the National Assembly (MNAs) on December 18th, regarding the impact of internet disruptions and the firewall on Pakistani citizens.

December 22, 2024 - Comments Off on Government official urges Pakistanis to “use internet less” in response to slow internet speeds

Government official urges Pakistanis to “use internet less” in response to slow internet speeds

People should “use the internet less” and for “important matters only”, said Parliamen­tary Secretary for Cabinet Secretariat Sajid Mehdi, speaking with Dawn News, as a proposed solution to recent internet slowdowns. Mr. Mehdi compared the internet to a road, remarking that the more users that were on the internet, the slower it would become, much like a congested road. The Parliamentary Secretary also cited the low capacity of Pakistan’s fibre network - 15%, compared to India’s 45% - as another key factor. His comments arrive in a climate of Pakistanis experiencing lagging internet speeds for the past few months, which has caused major financial losses as noted by P@SHA, Pakistan’s trade body for the IT sector. When told that the parliament had been informed of these losses, he responded, “We have not been told officially that the shutdown has caused financial losses. Nobody has filed any requests or complaints about financial losses.”