PTA registered 2,968 Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) & sent 2 billion Corona Virus awareness messages in a year

On Wednesday, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) announced that it had sent 2 billion Corona Virus awareness messages since 19th March 2020 in Urdu, English, and regional languages to mobile users across Pakistan. The announcement, which came through a press release, also highlighted PTA’s endeavors to supplement the government’s efforts to contain COVID-19 by effectively leveraging digital technologies.

SMSs were also sent to persons suspected of coming into contact with coronavirus patients during traveling. More than 1.036 million cautionary messages have been sent to travelers and suspected persons furthermore, while corona Awareness Ring Back Tones (RBI’s) have been activated on 131.7 million subscribers’ mobile devices.

Furthermore, to facilitate educational institutions and businesses’ operations, 2968 Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) were registered, and 16 different shortcodes and 6 UAN (Toll-Free) numbers were allocated to the government entities working on controlling the pandemic.

Further, the press release revealed that PTA facilitated arranging donations by mobile users in ‘Prime Minister’s COVID-19 Pandemic Relief Fund-2020 and enhancing public awareness about this initiative by sending 164.08 million SMS messages to subscribers meant to urge them to donate.