ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Chairman Major General (retd) Hafeezur Rehman has said that the “common man needs VPN” amid the looming ban on private gateways.
The PTA chairman made the remarks while briefing the Senate standing committee on Information Technology and Telecommunications as the country’s top regulatory authority on Monday extended the deadline for the registration of VPNs until November 30.
The extension came rising concerns over the misuse of unauthorised VPNs for activities such as bypassing internet restrictions and accessing prohibited content.
Briefing the Senate body, the PTA chief urged people associated with the IT business to register their VPNs to avoid any inconvenience.
He also acknowledged the importance of VPN, saying that the industry cannot function without it. “Freelancers and companies required the VPNs.”
The VPN registration policy was introduced in 2016, he told the parliamentarians, adding that they recently launched a campaign in this regard. “Internet will never be shut down if VPN is registered.”
The PTA chairman said: “Whenever the internet has to be shut down, the industry suffers.”
He apprised the lawmakers that 25,000 VPNs have been registered so far, adding that the PTA had blocked over 0.5 million obscene websites.
This is a developing story and is being updated with more details.
