Interview with ISPAK and Cybernet

An interview for Spider Magazine with Ansural Haq, Chief Operating Officer of “Cybernet”:http://www.cyber.net.pk/ and president of ISPAK, as well as V.A Abedi, the general secretary of “ISPAK”:http://www.ispak.com.pk/ (Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan).

1. *As a layman and a internet user, I have been wondering why is it that internet prices in Pakistan are so high. I already know that “PTCL”:http://www.ptcl.com.pk/ charges much higher rates than the rest of the world. Why are the bandwidth prices Pakistani ISP’s pay for international bandwidth much higher than in other parts of the world?*

The fore most reason for the Internet to be expensive in Pakistan is the continuity of the monopoly of the incumbent in almost all telecom services except the Cellular phones. The PTCL is geared to earn fat profit from fewer customers than to dare and enter in volume game. That is why all Internet related services are excessively costly and at places certain services are not even available, such as proper co-hosting. The incumbent managers take the easier way of running the business with out any risk, extracting the incurred cost of a project in shortest possible time with the force of monopolistic power of the government run businesses and with out any regard to the economic consequence or the good of the public. This approach created a safety net for the bureaucrats from financial mishaps and an easy way for the corrupt practices. Unfortunately, the sale of PTCL to “Etisalat”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etisalat has made the old hands of the PTCL even stronger and there is the test of strength between the regulator and the incumbent. This situation has been very well covered by the Business Recorder of the 24th April 2006 by Mr. Mansoor Pasha in a very well researched article.

The current price offering of one STM1(155Mb/sec) by PTCL is $76,000/month while, the Bandwidth offered by the PTCL is shared-bandwidth on the contrary, international operators are offering Half-circuit International Private Lease Circuit for $ 20,000 or less from London to Karachi Landing point. If PTCL could just match that price from landing to their exchanges (from exchanges to ISP location is paid for by the ISPs) then the unshared-bandwidth of STM1 would cost $40,000 or less; consequence: a better and cheaper service to the people of Pakistan. The domestic Bandwidth is many time more expensive than the prevailing prices of the International bandwidth and the intra-city connectivity is still higher than the Domestic bandwidth, for this to be possible, PTCL has used brute force of the monopoly But there seems very little hope for any better environment in the near future as the incumbent has refused to accept the directives of the PTA to revise the tariff in the face of the falling prices in the International market

2. *How is the Etisalat takeover of PTCL going to effect the ISP industry?*

Etisalat, for the time being is set to use their brute muscles of hidden deal with the GOP and maintain higher prices for the uncontested services, ruining the advancement of the Broad-band/ Internet service, they never had any thing like this in any other country.

3. *Once a network has been laid, the marginal cost of using it is truly marginal. Pakistan has an extensive fiber optic network linking the major cities. More networks are being built. Taking that into account, why are intercity charges for data connectivity so high? Who is to blame here?*

The absence of any competition to the PTCL in the domestic bandwidth market has made the PTCL the absolute price dictator, the things are likely to continue like this till some other entity is in a position to offer their services to the operators. As Sam Peltzman Michael E. Levine, Roger G. Noll write in their book ‘The Economic Theory of Regulation after a Decade of Deregulation’(Brookings Institution) it will take the Regulator hard labor to make things better for the Industry.

4. *Cybernet provides DSL connections to homes and businesses using imported DSL equipment capable of easily supporting a few mbps, even over our doge phone lines. While I can understand that you cannot provide fast international bandwidth at reasonable charges, what about fast local speeds within your own network? I want to be able to transfer large files from my PC at work connected to Cybernet to any other pc connected to Cybernet somewhere else.*

Cybernet does provide symmetric 800Kbps and asymmetric upto 10Mbps bandwidth within Cybernet infrastructure. Our DSL service can provide 2Mbps bandwidth symmetric from Point ‘A’ to Point ‘B’, which is known as layer 2 services and based upon industry standard of G.SHDSL. The biggest point for consideration here is that in our country, the prices of domestic bandwidth are much higher than International bandwidth thus make is uneconomical for the user. For example, a 155Mbps International circuit (Pakistan to UK) cost US$ 76,000 per month in Pakistan whereas a domestic circuit of the same capacity between Karachi and Islamabad cost US$ 123,500.

5. *Internet censorship: The Pakistan government has been attempting to censor the Internet, in fits and starts over the years. What is your role in this, as one of the largest ISP’s in Pakistan? Are you actively involved in censoring? If so, do you inform your customers when they try to access a blocked website?*

As per the obligation set by the “Pakistan Telecommunication Authority”:http://wiki.wiredpakistan.com/index.php?title=Pakistan_Telecommunication_Authority (PTA), ISPs have to block access to the unsolicited website as directed by the Authority. We normally follow the advice / instructions given to us from PTA.

6. *You must be aware that the current internet blockage methods are easily bypassed. As an ISP, you could be legally required to block objectionable material, and consequently held liable if your users access websites deemed objectionable by the govt. There is already a case pending against the chairman of the PTA under the blasphemy law for not blocking objectionable material. This carries the death penalty as under section 295C of the Pakistan penal code. After the PTA, the next logical target is the larger ISPs. This is certainly a situation where the ISP’s would be better off having a common stand in the eventuality this situation arises. Are you, and ISPAK, discussing how to deal with this? Do you have a common stand on this issue? In short, how are you planning to deal with this issue?*

From the very beginning, the ISPAK has resisted the censoring of the Internet or the filtering of the contents at all available forums and at one stage in August 2001, the former minister of IT&T, Dr Ataur Rehman formed a committee on internet content filtering comprising of the public and private sector. The report concluded that “Any attempt to perform content filtering at the country level will be waste of resources. No bulletproof solution is available. It would be:-

* futile,
* a logistical nightmare,
* a very expensive exercise, and
* would cause a lot of bad political allegations of news filtering.

Since the material is abundantly available in the local market at a much cheaper rate, therefore content filtering would not be a solution. This is a social problem and a social problem should be handled in social way.”

But the things changed in the aftermath of the 9/11, there has been often attempt to censor the sites which was duly resisted by the ISPAK, however, in the case of Cartoons, the ISPs showed a voluntary sprit faced with the matter of the faith or believes. In this case also, our view is that the matter of faith can be best tackled with the Decree of a religious authority rather than through the governmental interventions. These interventions have made the matter more complex and many private web-sites have jumped into the fray and in the name of freedom of expression they are providing access to these infamous sketches.

ISPAK believes that there are 8 ways to block the sites and 9 ways to overcome the blockage (briefly mentioned below); hence the Internet has become an un-censorable media.

Different Kinds of Censor:
URL blocking via the DNS server, Forced Proxy / Transparent Proxy, Key-word Filter, Ports blocking, Protection software’s on the Client, Censor-ware on the server, White-listing, IP blocking on the Routers.

Different ways to overcome the Censor:

Using a different ISP if an un-blocked ISP is available, Using a un-censoring DNS server, Using a non-censoring Proxy (in that, using standard proxy, un-common proxy, socks proxy, set up own proxy, special proxy / tunnel tools, Hopster etc.), Using Wes to Phone, Using a Web-proxy, Getting Web pages via Email, Getting steganograph, Camera shots of pages, Peer 2 Peer Programs, Special services like Usenet, FTP, messenger services etc., File sharing programs.

Having said that much about the Internet censoring, one has to admit that the situation in Pakistan is not very alarming as the concerned authority has seldom asked for the censor. Once they had asked to block the Pakistan Herald Tribune which was resisted by us and now the blocking of the cartoon sites has come up. In the case of the cartoon blocking it is the order of the apex court of the country as such there is hardly any room for resistance, however the best course in our opinion is to educate the public at large about the Internet censor and the futile efforts in the face of numerous ways available to by pass the censor. The courts will also start under standing that it is simply impossible to block the internet in the given situation.

7. *In China, along with govt. filtering at the main internet peering points, ISP’s are required to filter objectionable material, and are given a free hand to do so. ISPs and most large websites in China have staff dedicated to monitoring internet usage and blocking ‘objectionable’ material. Do you see that happening in Pakistan? Do you have a stand on internet censorship?*

Fortunately, the present government is not very keen to impose serious censoring on the Internet and a few attempts made were feeble and week. Mostly the requests made are either on oppositions demand or where public out cry has been strong like in the case of the cartoons. However E-mail tracking has been very common but generally the tracked Emails have been terror related or involving some crime.

We do not see that present government or a future government would go for China like Internet monitoring unless the future government is either headed by or under the stranglehold of the elements in favour.

8. *What logs do you maintain on your users, and for how long? Do you maintain browsing profiles of users? What about emails – do you retain copies, and for how long? Does the govt. require you to maintain certain records?*

All ISPs are required to maintains Internet usage (proxy) logs and email headers logs for a period of one (1) month as advised by PTA. We only maintain browsing logs (only on proxy server) and email logs for this period.

9. *How often does the govt. make requests for information to you? To track a user, etc.? To what extent are internet users monitored in Pakistan by the govt.? Do you routinely hand over information to govt. agencies?*

There is no routine for collecting any information; generally, information is sought when ever there is an active case of crime related with the use of Internet or Email. Initially, there was no system of demanding these information and in certain cases even a head constables could come from a police station and menace and harass the ISPs but over the time this sort of information is sought only under proper act and the agencies seeking such information have been well identified for sensitive National security service.
10. You must be familiar with the Pakistan Internet Exchange. What exactly does PIE do? How does it work, technical details etc. Since everytime I use the internet in Pakistan, more likely than not I am also using PIE, so I’ve always wondered what exactly do they do.

The PIE or the Pakistan Internet Exchange is a common router through which all International bandwidth, acquired by and through the PTCL passes through, thus any information coming in or going out on any type of medium, such as the Internet, telephony, Fax etc must route via this Exchange. However, the bandwidth acquired through IPLC and through other operators like FLAG etc are not going through PIE. This router is quite capable of blocking, monitoring, recording and denying information to all users of mediums operated on the PTCL owned or distributed bandwidth. Interestingly, the purpose for which it was established has never been achieved through this Exchange; this was to facilitate the inter-operator traffic with in the country with out using the expansive International bandwidth by routing the traffic from one operator to another with in the country.

It is only the lethargy on the part of the PTCL otherwise by installing a root-server or even a DNS server the PIE could block any web-site at URL/IP level and keep the records of all Email passing through them for any duration the government wished to keep.

11. *The future is wireless. I’ve read about a number of companies planning to set up wifi & Wimax networks throughout Pakistan. What is your take on this? How will it effect the established ISP industry? New players like Wateen are setting up Wimax networks in the larger cities. Do you see them taking over from the current players?*

According to all Internet Pundits the Wireless is the way forward specially, in regions where the ground cable network is not very effective; wireless is economical, quick and easy to deploy. However, there are some unresolved issues with the Wimax such as mobility, common standards and that is why there is some reluctance on the part of companies to deploy it, sooner or later all operators will have to go the wireless route, more so, in our country and in countries where the existing network infra-structure is not very elaborate. Various Last miles to a broadband subscriber like DSL, Cable, Satellite – DTH, VSAT, WiFi, Wi-Max, Fiber to the Home etc. must co-exist for effective competition without artificial hurdles, including licensing and inter-connect conditions.

12. *The internet is increasingly becoming an essential need. In Pakistan, internet prices are high enough that much of even the middle class cannot afford reliable internet access. In the past most of the ISP industry has been targeting the corporate market, and affluent customers who can afford their high rates. Do you think the time is now right to enter the home market? Is it currently possible to provide decent service at consumer prices on a large scale? What price point for international bandwidth would make this viable?*

From the very start of the internet in the country it has been the victim of manipulation at the hands of the incumbent. The pricing policies of the PTCL, not only for the bandwidth but for all other services needed for the operation of the Internet has been exceptionally high, compared to the prices in the region. To top the problems, a group of unlicensed cable operators started providing services in the urban area of exceptionally low quality, taking advantage of high price of duplex bandwidth available to the ISPs they resorted to down load only bandwidth and for out going traffic they used the connections of various ISPs. This way the users got used to slow and inefficient Internet and the ISPs lost the large segment of their business. The other reason of the poor growth of the Internet in the lower income group sector is the lack of Fixed-line Telephone services of the PTCL. Generally, an Internet user had to lose the use of normal telephone to hook on with the Internet which was other reason for the people to go for the cable operators. Now that DSL has come to the country, the cost of DSL has been artificially so kept that common man can not afford it. For DSL to spread to the homes the rentals of PTCL must be brought to a reasonable level and bandwidth must be made cheaper and in accordance with the international prices. The other way to take the Internet to homes is through the use of wireless, there again the bandwidth price will remain an issue. The realization and acceptance of the government that the Internet was essential for the good of the public and a determined effort to facilitate the common man, is the key to the growth of the Internet in the household market.

The affordability of any product depends on the buying power of the people, it is a common knowledge that the buying power of the people of Pakistan is not as high as those in the developed world and yet if the bandwidth prices are kept even higher than the international prevalent prices the Internet growth could hardly be possible, at least in the house-hold segment of the market.

In a research effort, ISPAK found out that the governments in various countries like Korea, China, Malaysia and India was of the opinion that the price for 100Kbps bandwidth for a user should be less than 1% of his/her total monthly income. In Korea, the price of 100Kbps for the user is $0.25 per month, in Malaysia it is $7.61, in China it is $3.07, in India it is $15.63 and in Pakistan it is $72.

Since a subscriber of a telephone is already paying the line rent, he should be allowed to use the same line freely for any other service including the DSL, the co-hosting space for the DSL equipment should be reduced as by providing the DSL an ISP is helping the PTCL reducing its load on the system, and the bandwidth price must be brought at par with the regional prices for a healthy and rapid growth of the Internet specially for the home users. The custom tariff on the DSL equipment should also be done with.

13. *You use Linux and other open source free software like Solaris on your servers. What has been your experience with it? What specific software do you use? How much of it is ‘home grown’? What software do you use on your desktops? Do you think Linux has a future in Pakistan? What new uses of the Internet and open software do you see originating in Pakistan?*

Yes, currently we are using Linux and Solaris 9 (which is not open source) for our servers. Solaris is mostly for Sparc based servers and Linux is for Intel based servers. Currently most critical services like Consumers and Corporate email, consumer and corporate billing, voucher/prepaid card management system, web hosting and user LDAP on Sparc and Solaris. Less critical and less resource hungry services like DNS, MRTG and squid proxies are all on Linux and Intel combination. It will give us more cost savings but when you talk about business continuity and availability CYBERNET preference is always Solaris with Sparc Architecture. Though Solaris 10 is open source now but still its new and quite different from previous version, so more time and expertise are required to grasp the new Concept in it. We also use Tomcat, Apache and JRun as Application/Web Servers which freeware or open source.

*What specific software do you use?*

*Linux:* Bind for DNS, Mrtg, Squid for Proxy, Acceleration software, FTP
*Solaris:* Sunone Web Server, Sunone Messaging, Sunone Calendar, Sunone LDAP, Portal Intranet Billing System, Oracle RDBMS, Apache Web Server

*How much of it is ‘home grown’?*

25% of them had customizations

*What software do you use on your desktops?*

Windows XP/Office, Adobe, IGrafx and Visio

*Do you think Linux has a future in Pakistan?*

Definitely, linux has a future in Server Level. On desktop front it’s still gloomy, as the learning curve of common man is still too costly as compare to Microsoft.

The inclination of hardware and software manufacturers is more towards Microsoft due to high level of acceptance globally. The tendency to release drivers and supportive tools is quicker as compared to any other operating system.

*What new uses of the Internet and open software do you see originating in Pakistan?*

Currently what I see following categories are emerging in the Pakistan from the Internet usage point of view:

* Communication Tool for Business Correspondence
* Emerging as a marketing tool
* Socialization
* Entertainment
* Education/Search of any related Information
* Usage of Open software climbing fast specially databases like MySQL and Application/Web Servers like Tomcat, Apache.
* Microsoft has developed great comfort for software developers, but despite the fact, reliability for technology people still lay in JAVA and C/C++.

14. *3G cellular networks can do an end round around ISP’s by providing internet access fast enough for basic consumer use. How do you see this effecting you?*

For effective competition each of these access path technologies like 3G, WLL, GSM/EDGE, Satellite – DTH, VSAT, WiFi, Wi-Max, Fiber to the Home, Building or Community must co-exist without artificial hurdles, including licensing and inter-connect conditions. Various market segments exist for various communication mediums.

15. *Where do you see the internet business 2 years from now?*

The Broadband should flourish significantly and if the impediments are removed to make the broadband affordable in Pakistan, the country can easily achieve 1 million user mark for broadband within 2 years using various mediums.