Tech Desk
Oct 02, 2024
In what seems to be a sigh of relief for the country's entire digital landscape, the internet slowdown woes in Pakistan will be resolved by the end of October 2024.
The development came to light from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) chairman Major General (retd) Hafeezur Rahman who also claimed that the regulatory body possesses no power to deliberately make the internet sluggish.
“The decision to close X is that of the federal government. We will open it when the government asks for it. Our compliance rate from X is very high but it only complies with 27%,” said the PTA chairman.
Drawing a comparison of Pakistan's longstanding internet crisis with India, he noted that the internet services in Pakistan last year were affected only seven times, whereas it took over India 116 times.
“I do not defend internet shutdown but national security is a priority. This time on Muharram 10, the mobile service was not widely shut down. The internet service was shut down in certain areas only at certain times,” he remarked.
To ensure the timely eradication of inappropriate content from social media platforms, he urged all social media platforms to deploy artificial intelligence (AI).
Pleas from intelligence agencies prompted the internet shutdown in the country and every country has its own security reasons for blocking internet access, the PTA chairman maintained.
“Mobile data is currently blocked in Panjgur due to security and no security agency directly writes to us. There was a request to shut down the mobile service during the MDCAT exam which was rejected.”
“Pakistan has 274 MHz spectrum and call drop will end after 5G auction. Pakistan has 160,000 km of fibre and 4G service quality will also improve on 5G spectrum, while 5G auction would be held in April next year,” he stated while reflecting on the impending deployment of 5G.
