PTA begins licencing VPN service providers

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has started granting VPN service licences as part of the restored Class Value Added Services (CVAS-Data) regime.

This initiative aims to streamline the provision of secure and lawful VPN services in Pakistan while ensuring compliance with national regulations and data security standards, the telecommunication authority said.

In this regard, the PTA has granted Class Licenses to several companies, including Alpha 3 Cubic (Pvt) Ltd (Steer Lucid), Zettabyte (Pvt) Ltd (Crest VPN), Nexilium Tech (SMC-Pvt) Ltd (Kestrel VPN), UKI Conic Solutions (SMC-Pvt) Ltd (QuiXure VPN), and Vision Tech 360 (Pvt) Ltd (Kryptonyme VPN).

The licensees are authorised to offer VPN services to individuals and organisations for legitimate and lawful purposes.

Users may now conveniently obtain VPN services directly from these licensed providers without the need to approach PTA for separate VPN registration of their IP addresses or mobile numbers.

The authority said that the measure is aimed at promoting regulatory facilitation, user convenience, and enhanced cybersecurity across Pakistan's digital ecosystem.

Around the world, people commonly turn to VPNs to get around online restrictions.

In Pakistan, many used them to reach X (formerly Twitter) before the government restored access.