- Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has given the first licenses to three companies to provide VPN services
- The new framework is coming as Pakistanis are increasingly using VPNs to bypass the X -ban and other Internet restrictions
- Authority now calls for all VPN providers to get a license to avoid potential service disorders
Pakistan’s telecommunications authority continues its quest to regulate the use of unlicensed VPNs across the country despite pushbacks.
On April 18, 2025, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) granted the necessary license to three companies to provide their services in the country. The authority now calls for all VPN providers operating in Pakistan to get a license to avoid potential service disorders.
All this is coming as More More Pakistanis have used some of the best VPN services to access X, which has been blocked since February 2024 and other limited social media platforms.
The end of the unicensed VPNs in Pakistan?
“Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has started licensing of virtual private networks (VPN) Service providers under the class license for the provision of data services in Pakistan.
The plan for a new license category for VPN providers was first revealed last December in an attempt to regulate Pakistan VPN use. Businesses have to apply for a permit to operate in the country and avoid potential blocks.
As the Pakistani English-speaking newspaper The Dawn pointed out at the time, the PTA plan represents local businesses to provide VPN or proxy services to citizens instead of foreign companies that are more difficult to control.
This could mean that Pakistani VPN users can be compromised when using a licensed provider, as authorities may be able to monitor VPN traffic.
As mentioned earlier, the authority is now calling on all VPN providers operating in the country to apply for the necessary license.
“Timely license will help prevent potential service disorders and ensure uninterrupted access for their customers,” PTA wrote.
VPN services continue to be a necessary tool at the time of writing to keep access to all the most important social media platforms in Pakistan, including X, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and even Bluesky.
Given last year’s failures with successful regulation of VPN use in Pakistan – authorities were forced to withdraw the ban for unregistered services due to lack of legal reasons for banning VPNs – it is difficult to predict what is at stake for VPN users in the country.
When he spoke with Techradar back in December, Proton VPN confirmed that if PTA’s VPN framework is eventually enforced for all providers, the company’s response would be to replace its physical servers with its smart routing technology, as the company did in India in 2022.
Techradar has approached some of the best providers for comment on the case, but we are still waiting for a response at the time of writing.
