PTA responds to internet disruption issue in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) Thursday responded to the complaints of ‘slow’ internet services across the country, ARY News reported.

A meeting of Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology was held with Palwasha Khan in the chair.

The members of the committee including Senator Afnanullah and Senator Humayun complained about the departure of several e-commerce platforms from Pakistan due to low internet speed.

Users are unable to upload or download media files on WhatsApp, Afnanullah Khan added.

“You people have ruined the business activities,” Senator Humayun said to the PTA and IT ministry officials attending the meeting.

The secretary IT said the issue of internet services is related to cellular networks not on WiFi services, while the PTA official said they did not receive any complaint about the slow internet speed in the country.

It is to be noted that the PTA officials were supposed to give details about Firewall installations in today’s meeting, but due to their unavailability, the agenda of the meeting was postponed.

Earlier, the Pakistan government decided to install a firewall across the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to control social media days after Punjab govt enacted the Defamation Law 2024.

Sources told ARY News that the government had decided to install a firewall to control social media and regulate internet traffic. The firewall is equipped with deep packet inspection (DPI) technology, allowing for the monitoring of data up to seventh layer.