The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has made significant strides in regulating Virtual Private Network (VPN) usage in the country, with a total of 20,437 VPN service providers now registered. According to a report by PressTonight, under the PTA’s VPN whitelisting initiative, 1,422 companies have successfully registered their VPNs.
Official documents reveal that 1,286 VPN companies in Pakistan have registered a combined total of 19,840 VPNs. The process has also seen participation from freelancers, with 136 individuals registering 180 VPNs. Furthermore, the Pakistan Software Houses Association has registered 417 VPNs as part of this initiative.
This move is part of a broader effort by the PTA to enforce the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), which will only be fully implemented once illegal VPN usage is effectively curtailed. The PTA is collaborating closely with the Ministry of IT, the Pakistan Software Export Board, and freelancers to facilitate the VPN whitelisting process, which has been ongoing since 2010.
