ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s internet service providers are losing more than a million dollars on a daily basis since the country’s telecommunications regulator has blocked their Internet Protocol (IP) addresses to curb grey telephony, industry giants said on Wednesday.
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) recently installed a web management system (WMS) to identify and block any online content classified as unlawful under local laws.
The authority has directed all internet service providers to get their IP addresses whitelisted to continue their services uninterrupted. However, industry giants have termed the authority’s process as “cumbersome, bureaucratic and time-consuming.”
“This new [PTA] regulation has affected around 400 companies and their businesses, and more than 10,000 employees,” Wahaj-us-Siraj of the Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan (ISPAK) told Arab News on Wednesday.
The association is a private body of 25 broadband service providers in Islamabad, and it has demanded a suspension of the IP blocking instruction for at least three months in a letter to the PTA.
“The PTA takes at least fifteen days to process a company’s whitelisting request … It is unthinkable that any business in the fast-paced world of IT can wait for that long,” he said.
“Our international customers are cancelling their orders and turning to India and Bangladesh … This is costing us over a million dollars per day,” he added.
The companies which are affected by the new regulations include call centers, IT firms, and information technology enabled services and software houses. These companies cannot use video conferencing, virtual private networks (VPNs) and Voice over Internet Protocols (VoIPs), which they routinely employ otherwise to interact with their clients, until their IPs are white-listed.
The association of internet service providers has urged the PTA to create an online portal to process and approve IP address-related requests within 60 minutes.
“In the current situation when Pakistan fights the corona pandemic and countries are enforcing work from home …. PTA is working backwards to block IP addresses to protect certain interest groups,” said the ISPAK letter to the PTA.
The authority, on the other hand, maintained that all education institutes and online businesses can use “legal” VoIP, VPN and video conferencing applications to continue their online activities without any restrictions.
All legal VoIP, VPN and video conferencing apps, such as WhatsApp, Skype, Google Meets, Zoom, Blue Jeans, Cisco WebEx, Team Viewer, Meraki VPN, are available to be used for virtual education and business, the PTA said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The PTA is only taking action against those [who are illegally] using VoIPs and VPNs which causes losses to the national exchequer,” Khurram Ali Mehran, spokesman for the PTA, told Arab News.
He also refuted the internet service providers’ claim that the PTA was taking at least fifteen days to process their whitelisting applications.
“Currently IPs are being whitelisted within 24 hours from applying for the same,” Mehran said. “Applicants have been asked to apply immediately for whitelisting even if all documents are not ready and they can provide the documents later.”
Pakistan's internet service providers flay PTA over IP whitelisting process
https://arab.news/w5aj9
Pakistan's internet service providers flay PTA over IP whitelisting process
- Say the government’s decision to block IP addresses has affected around 400 companies and their businesses
- PTA claims it is taking action against companies to curb grey telephony
Pakistan says defense pact with Saudi Arabia elevated brotherly ties to ‘new heights’
- Pakistan, Saudi Arabia signed strategic defense pact last year pledging aggression against one will be treated as attack on both
- Deputy PM Ishaq Dar says enduring bonds with Islamic and Arab nations form vital pillar of Pakistan’s foreign policy
ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said on Wednesday that Pakistan’s defense pact with Saudi Arabia elevated its brotherly ties with the Kingdom to “new heights,” stressing that close ties with Arab and Islamic nations form a key pillar of Islamabad’s foreign policy.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed a Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement on Sept. 17 last year, pledging that aggression against one country would be treated as an attack on both, enhancing joint deterrence and formalizing decades of military and security cooperation.
Both nations agreed in October 2025 to launch an economic cooperation framework to strengthen trade and investment ties.
“In the Middle East, our landmark Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement with Saudi Arabia has elevated our brotherly ties to new heights,” Dar said while speaking at the Pakistan Governance Forum 2026 event in Islamabad.
The Pakistani deputy prime minister was speaking on the topic “Navigating International Relations Amidst Changing Geo-Politics.”
Dar noted that Pakistan has reinforced partnerships with other Middle Eastern nations such as the UAE, Qatar, Jordan, Oman, Egypt and Bahrain. He said these partnerships have yielded “concrete agreements” in investment, agriculture, infrastructure, and energy sectors.
“Our enduring bonds with Islamic and Arab nations form a vital pillar of our foreign policy, and we will continue to expand our partnerships across Asia, Latin America, and Africa,” he said.
Dar pointed out that the presidents of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan have undertaken visits to Pakistan in recent months, reflecting Central Asian nations’ desire to boost cooperation with Islamabad.
On South Asia, the Pakistani deputy PM said Pakistan has successfully transformed its fraternal ties with Bangladesh into “a substantive partnership.”
“Similarly, the trilateral mechanism involving China, Pakistan, and Bangladesh has been launched with a view to expanding and deepening regional cooperation and synergy,” the Pakistani minister said.
He said Islamabad has strengthened its “all-weather” partnership with China via the second phase of the multi-billion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor agreement and “unwavering support” from both sides for each other’s core interests.
Dar said Pakistan had also reinvigorated its partnership with the US, advancing cooperation in trade, technology, investment, and regional stability.
“This calibrated approach has enhanced our ability to navigate complexity with skill and confidence, ensuring that our national interests are served without compromising our core foreign policy principles,” he said.
