The launch of Skynet in Pakistan, which was likely to have been attended by its propounder, ElonMusk, has been postponed, as regulators work to finalize a new licensing framework designed to increase security protocols for foreign satellite operators. This is because of the conflicts between Pakistan and India and then between Israel and Iran, which have raised security concerns which it is felt must be addressed. This is a saga which started with the attempt to get social media platforms to register, and has continued at intervals since, whether it be through the PECA Ordinance or through the Digital Pakistan concept. Somewhere within the innards of government, someone or some group is concerned about the freedom of expression given by the Internet. The excuse given is that reputations must be safeguarded, or that fake news must be stopped from spreading, but it is a futile effort, because the pace of technical development means that almost all concepts of security will go out the window, if they have not already.
If security concerns are to be met, piggybacking on civilian satellites, and that too foreign ones, does not seem secure under any circumstances. Military satellites must be dedicated. One low-cost solution would be for military-operated satellites to carry some civilian traffic. One problem is that the nearest candidate for the job, SUPARCO’s MM-satellite, has a latency of about 600 milliseconds. The latency is the delay between a user action and a response. Starlink and One Web, the internet satellites which want to come to Pakistan, have a latency of about 25 milliseconds, or 24 times longer. Apart from not being fast enough for many computer games, especially multiplayer ones, the MM might not be good enough for missile defence and launches. A wild card in the whole pack might be Starlink chief Elon Musk’s very public break-up with US President Donald Trump, at a time when Pakistan is going into overdrive to court Mr Trump after he ended the conflict with India by getting it to agree to a ceasefire.
There is little doubt that satellite internet providers carry the baggage of their governments trying to manipulate them for their ends, possibly to Pakistan’s detriment. One could sense the weakening of national bonds as globalization continues its onward march. When Pakistan came into being, back in 1947, the nation-state was the dominant mode by which the Western powers released their colonies. But now it must reinvent itself.
