KARACHI: The internet in Pakistan is “much better and cheaper” as compared to several other countries, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Tuesday, as he dismissed claims that internet outages in the country had caused massive financial losses in 2024, Dawn.com reported.

“This was calculated by a VPN forum, but I believe the internet has gotten better and in the coming days, it will improve further,” Tarar said while speaking to reporters at the opening ceremony of Media Cricket League 2025.

A recent report from Top10VPN.com, an independent VPN reviewer, claimed that Pakistan led the world in terms of financial losses suffered as a result of outages and shutdowns of internet and social media apps last year, with a cumulative impact of $1.62bn.

“You won’t find cheaper internet than we have here, look at the ads with the slogans regarding unl­imited data, whether telecom or Local Area Net­w­ork system,” he said.

The information minister added that there have been improvements concerning the internet, adding, “There were a few glitches in the past but now I feel this is more of a political discussion without evidence.”

In the previous year, users frequently experienced sluggish speeds, difficulty downloading media on WhatsApp, and intermittent connectivity issues.

Digital analysts said the government had been testing a “firewall” to monitor some platforms and block content. The government denied throttling the internet but said it was updating a ‘web management system’ for enhanced cyber security.

Published in Dawn, January 8th, 2025