Pakistan became the first South Asian country to achieve G4 status

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has been accorded the status of the Fourth Generation Regulator by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and Pakistan has become the first country in South Asia to achieve this status.

Of the 38 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, only 8% have achieved 4G status.

According to the ITU report titled Global ICT Regulatory Outlook 2020 (GIRO), Pakistan scored 88 out of 100.

According to the report, this means that Pakistan's ICT laws contain economic and social policy goals.

According to this, Pakistan is among the top 5 regulators in Asia-Pacific and is ranked 48th in the world.

The report further said that Pakistan scored 20 out of 20 marks in the regulatory authority, 19 out of 22 marks in the regulatory mandate, 22 out of 30 marks in the regulatory regime, and 27 out of 28 marks in the Competition Framework.

The ITU report also highlighted Pakistan's journey towards co-operative regulation.

In addition, the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) has said that it will continue to earn more international benchmarks for the digital transformation and socio-economic interests of Pakistan through the protection of consumer interests and the promotion of public-private partnerships.

PTA, on the other hand, extended the blocking date for unregistered International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) phones by another 30 days.

The decision to extend the period of blocking unregistered mobile phones under the Registration and Blocking System (DIRBS) was taken to provide relief to the public due to the coronavirus.

The process of blocking unregistered phones will start from May 19 and will be notified via SMS.

Remember that mobile devices connected to all local networks must be registered within the first 60 days of use.