New Firewall Expenses to be Shared by Government and ISPs

In a recent development, the government of Pakistan decided to install advanced firewalls from China to regulate social media content. These firewalls will help in preventing the spread of undesirable content. The firewalls are equipped with deep packet inspection (DPI) technology. The Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have been given the responsibility of installing these firewalls.

According to a credible source, the cost of these firewalls will be shared among the federal government and local ISPs. The government will be covering part of the expenses and the ISPs will pay the rest. Prior to this decision, discussions took place between the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), officials of the MoITT, and local ISPs. There was some resistance from the ISPs, but the PTA held firm on its decision.

The PTA has mandated the ISPs to block illegal and unwanted content as a condition of their operating licenses. The new firewall system will block online content at the IP level instead of relying on mobile apps. The national telecom regulator will supervise the installation and operation of the firewalls to ensure they effectively safeguard national security.

Furthermore, the sources say that these firewalls will analyze data at the application layers of up to the 7-layer OSI model. Such a level of control will enable the government to identify and block specific content and user IDs on social media platforms.

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