ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunications was informed on Monday that the operations of Long Distance and International (LDI) companies cannot be shut down because of their strategic importance.

Briefing the committee, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Chairman retired Maj Gen Hafeezur Rehman said former IT secretary retired Captain Muhammad Mehmood had been removed soon after his unilateral decision regarding the renewal of LDI licences.

When committee chairperson Palwasha Khan questioned the legal standing of the former secretary’s policy directive, the IT ministry’s member legal replied that ex-former had issued a policy directive, allowing the LDIs operators to pay fee in instalments, which was beyond his authority.

The IT ministry officials dissociated themselves from the decision made by the former IT secretary, while its member legal hinted that there was pressure to expedite the processing of the file.

Using VPNs to access X (formerly Twitter) is illegal, say interior ministry representatives

The PTA chairman said five LDI companies were willing to pay the required fees, even though some have filed court cases. He said the licences of LDI companies had expired in July and August this year and legal proceedings continues against these companies.

Senator Anusha Rehman inquired whether the 15 LDI companies possess optical fibre cables or not, and observed that four companies were particularly active in exerting influence on policymakers.

The PTA chairman revealed that there are currently around 15 cases in court involving the LDI companies, but said the primary issues affect four companies, including Wateen, which has an extensive fibre optic infrastructure covering 24 cities, mainly in Balochistan and Sindh.

He said Wateen provides connectivity to 44 banks and Nadra, and its licence expired in July 2024, but the company obtained a stay order from the court.

Senator Palwasha raised concerns about the potential impact on the network if these companies’ licences were not renewed.

The PTA officials informed the committee that the suspension of the companies’ operations would seriously impact the telephony services in the country and PTCL cannot compensate for the gap left by these companies if their operations are halted.

They said vacation of stay orders form courts would be an important step to move ahead in this regard and resolve the issue.

Senator Humayun Mohmand questioned the suspension of X (formerly Twitter) across the country, asking why the government was using the platform through VPN if it considered it problematic.

While not giving a direct answer to the issue, the PTA chairman noted that X was widely used around the world, often through VPN registration, but warned that free VPNs can be dangerous.

However, when Senator Humayun further questioned the legality of using VPNs to access X, the interior ministry officials replied that it was illegal. The PTA chairman said efforts were being made to register VPNs, with over 20,000 VPNs already registered.

Published in Dawn, September 10th, 2024