Voice, SMS Facility Restored For Prepaid Mobile Connections In Jammu and Kashmir

Prepaid mobile connections were restored in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday and 2G services resumed in two districts of the valley after being disconnected in August last year, official said. Voice and SMS facilities were restored for all local prepaid mobile phones across the Union territory. Rohit Kansal, the principal secretary to the administration of Jammu and Kashmir said the order will come into effect from Saturday.

In order to consider giving mobile Internet connectivity on such SIM cards, the telecom service providers will have to verify the credentials of the subscribers, he said.

Voice and SMS facility restored for prepaid mobile connections in Jammu and Kashmir: Officials

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) January 18, 2020

Internet service providers have been asked to provide fixed line Internet connectivity in all the 10 districts of Jammu region and two districts, Kupwara and Bandipora, in North Kashmir.

Telecom services were shut in the entire Jammu and Kashmir on August 5 when the Centre abrogated special status to the erstwhile state and also bifurcated it into two Union Territories.

Broadband Internet Restored

On January 2, broadband internet connectivity was restored at 80 government hospitals, including health centres and offices linked to the health department, in the Kashmir Valley.

"Broadband high-speed internet connectivity restored at 80 government hospitals, including health centres and offices linked to the department of health, across Kashmir,” an official had said. Internet services were suspended in the Valley on the night of August 4, the day before the Centre announced abrogation of Article 370 provisions and bifurcation of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state into Union territories.

August 5 Abrogation 

The Narendra Modi government on August 5 revoked Article 370 to take away Jammu and Kashmir's special status, and bifurcated the state into two union territories, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, that redrew the map and future of a region at the centre of a protracted militancy movement.

Digital Shutdown Capital

The trend of internet shutdowns, which was compiled by a Delhi-based net shutdown tracker last year, shows the surge in 2019 also. In fact, such is the situation that an expert lamented on the internet freedom in India by giving example of China, which is not a democracy!

In his September 2018 paper The Legal Disconnect: An Analysis Of India’s Internet Shutdown Laws, Google public policy fellow Nakul Nayak wrote: “Between mid-2015 to mid-2016, over 19 countries suspended internet access. That number increased to more than 30 in 2017. Notable international examples include the Egyptian government cutting internet services in its entire country for over four days, with China doing the same in its Xinjiang province for over 10 months," writes “However, it is India that has the dubious distinction of witnessing the most number of shutdowns in the world," he added.