ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has officially started granting licences to Virtual Private Network (VPN) service providers under the reinstated Class Value Added Services (CVAS-Data) regime.
Late last year, the regulator developed a fresh approach for registering VPNs after earlier attempts – including warnings of blocking unregistered VPNs – failed to achieve the intended compliance. Under the renewed framework, PTA has resumed issuing Class Data Licences to eligible service providers across the country.
In a statement released on Thursday, PTA said the new licensing process is designed to regularise secure and lawful VPN services, ensuring these operators meet national data protection and regulatory standards.
So far, licences have been awarded 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)
• Vision Tech 360 Pvt Ltd (Kryptonyme VPN)
A Class Licence enables multiple users to work under a common framework without requiring separate approvals for each individual user, making the system simpler, faster, and more transparent.
