PTA Starts Licensing for VPN Providers as the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority officially revives the Class Value-Added Services (CVAS-Data) regime to authorize legal, secure VPN services in the country.
“This move shall facilitate the provision of secure and legitimate VPN services in Pakistan, in compliance with national regulations and standards for data security,” PTA said in a statement on Thursday.
The PTA has provided class licenses to Alpha 3 Cubic (Pvt.) Ltd. for Steer Lucid, Zettabyte (Pvt.) Ltd. for Crest VPN, Nexilium Tech (SMC-Pvt.) Ltd. for Kestrel VPN, UKI Conic Solutions (SMC-Pvt.) Ltd. for QuiXure VPN, and Vision Tech 360 (Pvt.) Ltd. for Kryptonyme VPN.
It said these licensees are authorised to extend VPN services for legitimate and lawful purposes to individuals and organisations.
“Users can now easily get VPN services directly from these licensed providers without the need for approaching PTA for separate registration of their IP addresses or mobile numbers. The move is aimed at ensuring regulatory facilitation, user convenience, and enhanced cyber security across Pakistan’s digital ecosystem.”
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The PTA last year allowed the registration of VPNs by freelancers using their mobile numbers. This move came after the government decided not to ban virtual private networks, as the law ministry said the government did not have the legal authority for such a ban under the Electronic Crimes Act, or PECA, 2016.
