Islamabad, Aug 21: Major General (R) Hafeezur Rehman, the chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), stated on Wednesday that he was unsure if the new firewall had affected internet services in Pakistan. Nevertheless, he guaranteed that the problem will be resolved by tomorrow, August 22, 2024.
The PTA chairman, in his address before the National Assembly Standing Committee on IT and Telecom, attributed the recent internet problems on a malfunction in the underwater cable that links Pakistan to the rest of the globe. By August 22, he continued, “this fault should be fully resolved with the arrival of seven new submarine cables.”
The chairman refuted claims that the cable problem was global, saying instead that VPN usage had surged as a workaround during the downtime. He said that the submarine problem was limited to Pakistan’s infrastructure and not a worldwide one.
The national firewall, which is being erected as part of an aggressive online management policy to monitor social media material, was another topic of discussion among the committee members. After a participant named Omar Ayub suggested that the firewall might be to blame for the internet slowdown, other officials argued that the firewall wasn’t the reason for the current disruptions because it hadn’t been fully installed yet.
In order to improve national security and regulate social media, the Federal Cabinet has issued directions, which the PTA Chairman informed the committee is being followed in installing the firewall. Ayub questioned how such a system may affect the nation’s freedom of the internet.
He emphasized that all decisions made have to be open to the public and answerable to Parliament.The meeting also covered the wider economic effects of the recent internet outages. Over $300 million was lost by the telecom industry during that time, with IT firms and independent contractors suffering the most.
Pakistan’s reputation is being damaged by internet disruption:
Member IT bemoaned the serious harm these disruptions had done to the nation’s reputation, with financial damages in the IT sector still to be determined. The committee voiced its dissatisfaction with the inadequate connection in different areas, especially in Tharparkar, where 75% of the network is still not functioning.
Members also mentioned that mobile signals are still spotty in the interior of Sindh and that some places haven’t had internet access for three years. Members of the committee questioned whether residents in these neighborhoods are receiving equitable treatment, and they were not pleased with the PTA’s lack of clarity in responding to their inquiries.
The committee pushed PTA to raise the caliber of its services and demanded a thorough report on the harm these internet problems had caused. In response, the PTA Chairman said that there is already a Quality of Service Mechanism in place and that businesses face fines for providing subpar service. In order to improve coverage, he continued, PTA carries out surveys on a regular basis and mandates that each mobile provider erect 455 new towers a year.
5G
The PTA Chairman also said that plans are in motion to entice additional companies to participate in the April 2025 5G services auction. The Chairman stated that, despite the continued difficulties, the internet will not be further disrupted during the system’s upgrade, even if it might take until August 27 for the submarine cable to be recovered.
