The Pakistan government has announced the commencement of virtual private networks (VPNs) registration through a ‘one-window’ operation on the websites of the telecommunication regulator and software export board. This initiative comes amid widespread and prolonged internet service disruptions across the country.
“To facilitate businesses such as software houses, call centres, freelancers, and foreign missions/embassies in their legitimate, secure, and uninterrupted operations, VPNs are being registered under the ‘one-window’ operation available on the PTA and PSEB websites,” the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) stated in a release.
“This is an ongoing process that is continuously being streamlined by the PTA, Ministry of IT, PSEB, and P@SHA. Since 2020, over 20,000 IPs have been registered for VPNs.”
To ensure secure and uninterrupted online business operations, users are required to register their VPNs at the following web address: https://ipregistration.pta.gov.pk/.
An IT sector expert told Business Recorder that during times when services are blocked (such as election days, Muharram, etc.), those with registered VPNs will remain unaffected.
This development follows significant disruptions in internet services across Pakistan, with X (formerly Twitter) remaining blocked in the country for nearly six months.
Since July, internet networks have been operating at up to 40 percent slower than normal, according to an IT association, with disruptions affecting documents, images, and voice notes on WhatsApp, a platform used by tens of millions of people.
Digital rights experts have suggested that the government may be testing a firewall—a security system that monitors network traffic but can also be used to control online spaces. However, the government denies installing any such firewall.
On 15 August, the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on IT demanded an explanation from PTA Chairman Major General Hafeezur Rehman (retd) and requested the reasons behind the disruptions in social media services.
Later, the State Minister of Information Technology and Telecommunication, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, categorically dismissed reports that the government was throttling the internet, emphasising that the state was neither slowing down internet speeds nor shutting it down.
“The report of the government throttling the internet is incorrect,” she declared during a press conference in Islamabad on 18 August.
