Disruption in Amazon Web Services Not due to PUBG ban: PTA

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has dismissed social media reports that the disruption in Amazon Web Services reportedly faced by some users lately was due to the PUBG ban.

PTA said that such an impression was ‘wrong and baseless.’

The ban on PUBG is in place since 10th July whereas AWS users faced issues reportedly on 23rd July. “Complaints received by operators from AWS users also show that they experienced intermittent accessibility issues and not complete blocking of AWS IPs or services. Furthermore, this phenomenon was not specific to Pakistan only but users in other countries including the United States also experienced similar issues,” said PTA.

PTA said that it has already clarified the matter through its social media accounts as well when this trend was first seen on social media.

The regulator informed that currently it is not doing any VPN blocking and the apprehensions are unfounded. “In terms of VPN registration, the requirements are tailored around users working from home either for a local or a foreign company. Users can get their VPNs registered without having a static IP on their end.”

PTA added that in order to facilitate the public, PTA has already clarified the VPN registration process/requirements on its official website and has also engaged in Industry forums to create awareness. On Industry requests, an online mechanism for VPN registration is also being launched, it added.