The government owns 49% of the shares of Cable & Wireless Panama, SA, which is a Panamanian telecom company governed by private law.

Panama does not mandate functional separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market. However, there has been an obligation to separate the accounts since 1999. Resolution JD-1334 of 1999 establishes the criteria which determine if a given company has a significant market share. It is calculated in terms of Gross Revenue that exceeds by more than 25% or more than the other competitors of the respective service.

Art. 1 of Law No. 36 imposes specific restrictions on obtaining a licence to provide telecommunication services or operate telecommunication facilities, particularly in the mobile telephony sector. The law consolidates the market by limiting the number of concessions for operating mobile telephony services to three.

According to Art. 74 of Decree No. 73, it is necessary for a service provider to obtain the corresponding concession in advance to provide any telecommunications service. For foreign companies, registration in the Public Registry shall be completed before obtaining the concession.

Art. 10 of Law No. 22 provides that the State must promote the competitive participation of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in certain acts of contractor selection carried out by public institutions. Art. 88 of Executive Decree No. 439 further elaborates on the provision mentioned above, stating that in the case of minor procurement acts, the entity must select the proposal submitted by the micro or small enterprises, provided that it complies with the requirements and demands of the tender documents and the proposed price is not greater than 5 % in relation to the lowest price proposal submitted by another type of enterprise.

Panama is a signatory of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Information Technology Agreement (ITA) of 1996 but is not a signatory of its 2015 expansion (ITA II).

Under Art. 13 of Law No. 22, when selecting contractors for the acquisition of goods and services, contracting entities in Panama are required to first consider the feasibility, availability, and quality of goods and services produced within the country. According to Arts. 5-7 of Executive Decree No. 439, foreign companies wishing to participate in these selection procedures must reference any international agreements or treaties on reciprocity between their home country and Panama. Public entities are encouraged to promote the participation of domestic companies unless technical requirements of the contract make this impractical (Art. 5). Additionally, when contracting for goods and services, the tender documents must specify that these must be of national origin, production, manufacturing, or provision (Art. 7).

It is reported that in November 2020, the Pakistan government banned online payments from India for the subscription of electronic media content as part of the capabilities offered by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority Ordinance 2002. In practice, this restriction impacts the provision of electronic media content.

It is reported that the de minimis threshold, that is the minimum value of goods below which customs do not charge duties, is PKR 5,000 (approx. USD 20), below the 200 USD threshold recommended by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

According to Art. 7.6 of the Removal and Blocking of Unlawful Online Content (Procedure, Oversight and Safeguards) Rules 2021, "Significant Social Media Companies" shall: (i) appoint a grievance officer based in Pakistan; (ii) appoint a compliance officer (iii) establish an office in Pakistan with physical address preferably located in Islamabad. According to Art. 2 of the law, a Significant Social Media Company means and includes a Social Media Company with more than half a million users in Pakistan or is on the list specially notified by the Authority for this purpose from time to time

Pakistan lacks a comprehesive framework for consumer protection that applies to online transactions. Nevertheless, several regional laws apply, including the Islamabad Consumer Protection Act (1995), the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Consumer Protection Act (1997), the Balochistan Consumer Protection Act (2003), and the Punjab Consumers Protection Act (2005).

Pakistan has not signed the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts.

Pakistan has adopted national legislation based on or influenced by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Electronic Commerce.

Pakistan has not adopted national legislation based on or influenced by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Model Law on Electronic Signatures.