1988

• 786 BBS service launched in Pakistan.

1991

• X.25 Packet Switched Public Data Network (PSPDN) introduced by PTCL.

• Tariffs are high, service is low, but in principle one can get connected to the young internet.

1992

• Pakistan’s first email node established at HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry, Karachi University.

1993

• Imran.Net starts offering its commercial e-mail service.
• SDNPK, a UNDP project, starts the first reliable e-mail and news group service.

1994

• First DNOPs (Data Network Operators) licenses issued by GoP.

1995

• .pk domain comes into existence.
• Pakistan becomes the first South Asian country to open up the ISP market to the private sector.
• Digicom offers first commercial internet service. A 64Kbps link. Rs100/hr.

1996

• PTCL starts its internet service.
• Pakistan Telecom Act Approved by Parliament & PTA formed.
• ISP licenses issued by PTA.
• PTCL signs for SMW-3 fiber optic cable spur touching Karachi.
• LUMS becomes first educational institution in the country to have own internet connectivity.

1998

• ISPs mushroom across the country, followed closely by cybercafés.
• PTCL introduces multimetering of Internet calls despite public outcry.
• PTCL, under consumer and industry pressure, stops multi-metering of Internet calls.
• Formation of Internet Service Provider’s Association of Pakistan (ISPAK).
• Universal Internet Numbers (UIN) starting with digits 131 allotted to ISPs.
• New tariffs for international bandwidths using fiber (SMW-3) bring shared IP international bandwidth to US$6000 per month, for 2 Mbps.
• An investigation by the NWFP CM revealed a cyber fraud by 35 affluent students in Peshawar through the fraudulent use of Net2Phone. The students had bought and sold goods worth US$40,000.

1999

• India bans the Dawn Internet Edition.
• ISPAK and Cyber.net hold the 1st Internet Exhibition in Karachi.

2000

• Pakistan’s IT Policy formulated.
• GoP’s Universal Internet Access scheme allows more than 1,000 cities, towns and villages to dial ISPs in the nearest city at the cost of local call.
• SMW-3 fiber optic cable commissioned.
• Broadband cable introduced by WorldCall in Lahore.

2001

• PTCL establishes new internet bandwidth service through the newly introduced Pakistan Internet Exchange (PIE) with attractive price tags, but no quality of service guarantee.
• A group of students from FAST, Karachi launch ApnaKarachi.com, a portal that offers everything one wanted to know about Karachi, from bus routes to maps and more.

2002

• PIE starts blocking internet telephony and pornographic websites.
• Government sets up Virtual University.
• Pakistan Educational Network connects 56 national universities with a high speed optical fiber network.
• PTA issues determination unblocking Net2Phone and other VoIP services.
• Intel helps the GoP set up Internet kiosks in major airports in the country.
• The official website of the Government of Pakistan is victim to a politically motivated attack launched by the latest version of an internet worm. Virus experts said the Yaha.E worm contains a payload designed in part to disrupt the home page of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan with a rudimentary denial of service attack.
• Microsoft raids major corporations and offices to crack down on illegal and pirated software.
• AKD Trade launches the first Pakistani online stock trading website.

2003

• Pakistan’s first geo-stationary satellite, PAKSAT-1, becomes operational.
• PTCL monopoly lapses on Jan 1 – on paper.
• PIE network goes down to crawling speeds 63 times in two months.
• PTCL starts blocking porn sites.
• PIE blocks access to SA Tribune (www.satribune.com), a Washingtonbased news website, critical of the GoP. Ministers deny the blocking.
• PTCL bandwidth rates are dropped from US$6,000 per 2Mbps to US$5,400 per 2Mbps.
• FLAG’s virtual pop activated.
• Hacking wars between hackers from India and Pakistan reach the peak level.
• PTCL signs 1st service level agreement with ISPs on FLAG circuits.
• Internet subscribers hooked to about 45 ISPs in Karachi suffer owing to break n fiber cable of PTCL. Internet remains ‘down’ for 19 hours.
• Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication announces the De- Regulation Policy for the Telecommunication Sector.
• GoP announces plans to give away porn-blocking software.
• The State Bank of Pakistan starts the online Credit Information Bureau (CIB), which is the first in South Asia to provide current data about borrowers.
• Naseeb.com, an online community that connects Muslims through a circle of friends, launches and becomes an overnight success.
• Pakistani internet users were unable to load any browser pages for nearly a day when miscreants cut an optical fiber link of PTCL near Sibi.

2004

• Pakistan Telecommunications Company asks FLAG Telecom (PTCL’s international internet transit provider) to block access to all pornographic websites on its backbone to Pakistan.
• PTA auctions licenses for Local Loop, Wireless Local Loop and the Cellular sector.
• Access to South Asia Tribune is blocked again. The Government denies it.

Courtesy: Spider Magazine