ISLAMABAD: The IT industry has claimed that one hour of internet outage or disruption results in a loss of more than one million dollars for the whole sector, including export businesses.
In a media talk on Tuesday, Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@sha) Chairman Sajjad Mustafa Syed said authorities have acknowledged that Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) cannot be banned as there was no law to do so.
Mr Syed, who heads the premier representative body of the country’s IT industry, added the association had informed the IT ministry and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) that regular internet slowdowns and unannounced disruptions were hurting IT service exports.
“We have told the government that a one-hour internet slowdown might not have any significant impact on people, but disturbed services to a client in any stock market, airport service, bank, etc., in advanced countries would eventually lead to loss of confidence in Pakistan’s IT sector,” Mr Syed said.
