ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has been listed by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) as the 4th Generation Regulator (G4) and has become the only country in South Asia to have achieved this status.
Only 8% of the 38 Asia-Pacific economies managed to reach G4 status.
Pakistan ranked 88 out of 100 in the ITU survey entitled “Global ICT Regulatory Outlook 2020 (GIRO),” This means that the ICT regulations of Pakistan are controlled by economic and social policies. Pakistan is also the top five regulators with a global rank of 48 in the entire Asia-Pacific region.
What is G4 Rank?
The GIRO is based on data supplied by 193 countries, which is the basis for the ‘ICT regulatory tracker.’ The tracker, created by ITU, is an evidence-based tool that helps policymakers and regulators track the rapid evolution of ICT regulation.
Furthermore, the study said Pakistan had scored full marks (20/20) for regulatory authority, 19/22 for the regulatory mandate, 22/30 for the regulatory regime, and 27/28 for competition mechanism work. The Report also highlighted Pakistan’s path toward collective regulation as a special feature.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has announced that it will continue to achieve new international milestones by demonstrating its commitment to protecting consumer interests and public-private partnerships for Pakistan’s digital transformation and socio-economic advantage.
In another update, for all GSMA legitimate devices and IMEIs seen on mobile networks but not currently registered with the PTA, the PTA has extended the deadline for blocking IMEI to an additional 30 days.
The decision to extend the deadline for blocking unregistered mobile sets under App Identification Registration and Blocking System (DIRBS) was taken to provide relief, promote public awareness, and ensure social distance during this era.
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The blocking of these mobile devices will continue with effect from May 19 and will be communicated via text message.
Within 60 days after the first use of devices on local mobile networks, all mobile devices connected to local networks using local SIM are subject to registration. Because of exceptional circumstances, the blocking of unregistered computer IMEIs, which was to be blocked between 18 March and 18 May, will now begin on 19 May.
