Media Matters for Democracy
Brief paper on the state of net neutrality in Pakistan
Net Neutrality in Pakistan – A nonexistent debate A brief paper on state of net neutrality in Pakistan Media Matters for Democracy In Pakistan, net neutrality is a term used mostly by a handful of digital rights organizations and industry bodies – in the grassroots, internet consumers and the mainstream media there appears to be little or no comprehension of the context. The government appears to be taking a laidback attitude towards improving the situation. In the last few years, Pakistan has seen various instances where the issue of net neutrality should have been of prime importance but didn’t even feature as a part of the debate. Since the violations of net neutrality hasn’t surfaced as a serious issue of concern, there is no way to take action against such issues – even the protest against these is limited to a very small sub section of civil society groups and people can be heard applauding the free access to Facebook and twitter and other such platforms on different mobile networks. 1. Internet Regulation in Pakistan Pakistan has been without proper legislation for cyberspace since 2009, when the Prevention of Electronic Crime Ordinance expired. Recently, the draft of a new legislation has been approved by a standing committee of the National Assembly and is ready to be tabled in the Parliament. This draft, as per the State Minister of Information Technology, Ms. Anusha Rehman, has been made in compliance with the National Action Plan for counterterrorism, NAP1. As this demonstrates, the regulation of internet in Pakistan is a story of complexities. Technically, the regulation policy has be drafted and overseen by a Federal Ministry, The Ministry of Information Technology2. However, the political and security framework of the state has resulted in the ICTs becoming a factor of concern for various other state institutions as well. Resultantly, we have seen the involvement of Ministry of Interior3, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting4 and various sections of the security establishment in the actual regulation of the internet. 1
Govt to make cyber laws compatible with NAP - http://nation.com.pk/islamabad/05-Feb-2015/govt-tomake-cyber-laws-compatible-with-nap
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Ministry of Information Technology, Government of Pakistan - http://www.moitt.gov.pk/
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Ministry of Interior and Narcotics Control - http://www.interior.gov.pk/
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Media Matters for Democracy
Brief paper on the state of net neutrality in Pakistan
The Ministry of Information Technology works to “create an enabling environment through formulation and implementation of policies and legal framework; providing ICT infrastructure for enhancing productivity; facilitating good governance; improving delivery of public services and contributing towards the overall socio economic growth of the country”5. Under the ministry, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority6 remains at the centre of internet and telcomms regulation. The Authority was established under Reorganization Act 1996 (of Pakistan Telecommunication Ordinance 1994), to regulate the establishment, operation and maintenance of telecommunication systems, and the provision of telecom service7. PTA promotes is vision to "create a fair regulatory regime to promote investment, encourage competition, protect consumer interest and ensure high quality ICTS services”8. Apart from MoiTT and PTA, the Ministry of Interior has also been involved in various decisions regarding internet and telecommunications. The decisions regarding disconnections of communication networks and at times the blocking of access to content have come directly from the Ministry of Interior. The major involvement of departments other than the MoiTT has been through now defunct Inter Ministerial Committee. Inter-­‐Ministerial Committee for Website Evaluation that has till recently the responsibility of web content management in PTA. The actual composition of the committee was never made public. The committee was disbanded9 following a constitutional petition10 by digital rights organization Bolo Bhi. The Ministry of Interior is also involved in the regulation of the internet through the National Response Centre for Cyber Crime11, housed under the Federal Investigation Agency. 4
Ministry of Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage, Government of Pakistan http://infopak.gov.pk/
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Ministry of Information Technology, Mission 6
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority - http://www.pta.gov.pk/
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History of PTA http://www.pta.gov.pk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=358&Itemid=320
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PTA Vision - http://www.pta.gov.pk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=240&Itemid=102
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PTA granted powers for content management on internet - http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-7308076-PTA-granted-powers-for-content-management-on-internet
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The IMCEW Challenge – Updates by Bolo Bhi - http://bolobhi.org/resources/timelines/imcew-challengeupdates-bolo-bhi/
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National Response Centre for Cyber Crime - http://www.nr3c.gov.pk/
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Media Matters for Democracy
Brief paper on the state of net neutrality in Pakistan
2. Internet Landscape in Pakistan Internet penetration in Pakistan is steadily growing – According to Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan, ISPAK, there are currently 25 million internet users, 15 million mobile users using edge and GPRS services and 1.7 broadband connections12 in the country. Teledensity in the country has been increasing at a very fast pace. 12
Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan -­‐ http://www.ispak.pk/ 3
Media Matters for Democracy
Brief paper on the state of net neutrality in Pakistan
Total Teledensity in Pakistan-­‐ PTA13 With the roll out of 3G and 4G services in 2014, and the increase in availability of cheap smartphones, it is expected that the numbers would be a definite improvement in 2015. 3. Key Incidents of Net Neutrality Violations One of the most prominent violations of the net neutrality principles has been at the hand of Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited, PTCL, the largest ICT services provider in Pakistan. In March 2014, PTCL entered into an agreement with Dailymotion14. According to a news report, under this agreement, Pakistani users will be able to watch the Dailymotion videos with fast speed15. For this purpose, PTCL is to form a ‘Content Delivery Network’ allowing Dailymotion videos to be hosted in servers located within Pakistan. Considering the fact that the world’s most popular video sharing platform, Youtube has been blocked in the country since September 2013, this deal is completely against net neutrality principals – as it provides higher speed for dailymotion, facilitating it over other video sharing platforms like Vimeo and the banned Youtube. The practice of telecommunication service providers offering differentiated data plans, favoring one or two platforms are also getting increasingly common. In 2012, Ufone in collaboration with Twitterlaunched "Twitter browsing without any data charges" proudly proclaiming that this service will "help create an entirely new wave of social networking in Pakistan"16. Ufone has been offering differtiated bundles since 2012, including a WhatsApp bundle17, and other bundles providing Facebook and Twitter at preferential rates18. Ufone also offers a “FastChat” service through its social corner19. 13
Telecom Indicators, PTA - http://www.pta.gov.pk/index.php?Itemid=599
PTCL and Daily Motion Join Hands http://www.ptcl.com.pk/Home/PressReleaseDetail/?ItemId=419&linkId=130
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Fast video Streaming in Pakistan due to the agreement between PTCL & Dailymotion http://talkontech.net/tag/ptcl/
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Ufone customers can browse Twitter free of cost - http://www.ufone.com/press-center/pressrealeases/pr/?id=154
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Ufone Brings WhatsApp Bucket to Use Unlimited Mobile Internet http://www.reader.pk/2012/12/26/ufone-whatsapp-bucket.html
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Ufone Socialife Offer: Use Unlimited Facebook and Twitter - http://propakistani.pk/2012/09/13/ufonesocialife-offer-use-unlimited-facebook-and-twitter/
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Ufone Value Added Services - http://www.ufone.com/customer-service/Value-Added-Services/#list
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Media Matters for Democracy
Brief paper on the state of net neutrality in Pakistan
Currently, the five major telecom providers Warid, Telenor, Zong, Ufone and Mobilink are all offering at least one package20 that offers preferential access to different social networking and communication apps. Warid, a telecomm provider has multiple differentiated plans21, including an Unlimited Facebook & WhatsApp!22 This bundle is being offered absolutely free till 31sth March 201523. 4. Government Policy Net Neutrality In October 2014, the Ministry of Information Technology shared a draft Telecommunications Policy24 for stakeholder consultation. In this the issue of “Net Neutrality” was raised for the first time. The policy “attempts to reach a compromise between providing operators with commercial options and preventing anti-­‐competitive practices.”25. Section 6.5 of the draft policy shared on MoiTT website focuses on the issue of net neutrality. The following provisions have been included in this draft; 6.5.1 With respect to net neutrality and the provision of services aimed at over the top service providers, Government is of the view that (1) ISPs are compensated for any traffic consumed by their customers, and (2) they may implement tiered retail service tariffing with limits onntraffic volumes delivered, thereby limiting their liability to carry traffic. Therefore, the Internet access service provided by an ISP or a network operator shall provide access to all services without discrimination through the technical characteristics of the service. To be specific: 20
Free Facebook, Twitter & WhatsApp by Telcos in Pakistan - http://www.moremag.pk/2014/12/29/freefacebook-twitter-whatsapp-in-pakistan/
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Warid prepaid mobile internet - http://www.waridtel.com/prepaid/mobile-internet
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Warid Offers Free Bundle for Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp http://propakistani.pk/2014/09/16/warid-offers-free-bundle-for-facebook-twitter-and-whatsapp/
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Warid, Unlimited Facebook & WhatsApp - http://www.waridtel.com/prepaid/mobile-internet/unlimitedfacebook-whatsapp
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Consultations om draft telecom policy 2014 http://www.moitt.gov.pk/gop/index.php?q=aHR0cDovLzE5Mi4xNjguNzAuMTM2L21vaXQvZnJtRGV0YWl
scy5hc3B4P2lkPTU3NyZhbXA7b3B0PW5ld3NldmVudHM%3D
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MoITT unveils draft Telecom Policy; includes provisions for net neutrality, spectrum sharing and OTT https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2014/10/10/moitt-unveils-draft-telecompolicy-includes-provisions-for-net-neutrality-spectrum-sharing-and-ott/
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Media Matters for Democracy
Brief paper on the state of net neutrality in Pakistan
a) Throttling and traffic shaping on access components must not be undertaken to discriminate between the access provider‟s own services, or services that the access provider favours, and other services. Access here means the service between the final distribution node and the device providing the customer‟s connection to the network, beyond which the customer has control. b) The ISP or network operator may use traffic throttling and shaping to avoid network congestion and to implement fair use clauses in its contract with an individual customer, provided that the contract itself does not discriminate between the access provider‟s own services, or services that the access provider favours, and other services, and provides protection to the consumer against unwarranted action. c) Backhaul, transit services and gateways between operator networks may not discriminate between the access provider‟s own services, or services that the access provider favours, and other services. d) A backhaul or transit service provider may offer higher quality services and services designed to deliver particular types of content (e.g. games or streamed video). If it does provide such services, it must not require a service provider to use a relevant delivery service unless its own equivalent end user services use the same delivery service exclusively. In all cases, where an alternative network solution is offered, the terms of service and quality of service provided under those terms shall be equivalent and shall not discriminate between service provider customers26. Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan response27 to the draft by lists a few concerns regarding the hurdles towards a ‘level playing field’ among various other concerns, but doesn’t touch directly upon the net neutrality provisions in the draft. 26
Ministry of Information Technology Telecommunications Policy: Consultation Draft http://moit.gov.pk/gop/index.php?q=aHR0cDovLzE5Mi4xNjguNzAuMTM2L21vaXQvdXNlcmZpbGVzMS9
maWxlL1RlbGVjb20lMjBQb2xpY3klMjAtJTIwU3Rha2Vob2xkZXJzJTIwQ29uc3VsdGF0aW9uJTIwMjAxN
DEwMDEucGRm
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ISPAK response to draft telecom policy 2014 http://www.ispak.pk/Downloads/Telecommunication%20Policy%20-%20Consultant's%20Draft.pdf
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Media Matters for Democracy
Brief paper on the state of net neutrality in Pakistan
As this document is being drafted on 17 April 2015, the website of Ministry of Information Technology includes the above cited sections as a ‘draft policy’ which means that is hasn’t been enacted as yet. 5. Conclusion It can be concluded that despite the prevalence of net neutrality violations, any action has not been taken due to; 1. The lack of legal framework that recognizes and defines principles of net neutrality in Pakistan 2. The lack of civil society and consumer groups working towards creating awareness on these principles. There has very limited debate on digital forums, mostly among civil society organizations that focus primarily on digital rights. Unfortunately, the number of organizations focused on this area can be counted on one hand. The debate has not been mainstreamed to other rights organizations and has thus not generated the critical mass that can push towards policy changes that ensures that the telecom service providers, corporates and other institutions abide by Net Neutrality principles. 7