Jammu & Kashmir: 4G internet to be restored after 18 months, prepaid SIM holders will be subjected to verification

New Delhi: High speed mobile internet services are being restored across Jammu & Kashmir on Friday, February 5 after 18 months of suspension.

“4G mobile internet services being restored in entire J&K,”J&K administration principal secretary Rohit Kansal announced on a tweet.

Internet services were shut in J&K were shut on August 5,2019, since article 370 was imposed and afterwards restored at 2G. In August last year two district Udhampur in Jammu region and Ganderbal in Kashmir region had the access to 4G services, while 18 districts continued to work under 2G internet speed.

The ban of high speed internet or 4G affected nearly every life of aspect in J&K, healthcare and education sectors faced hardships during the Covid-19 pandemic and struggled on the treatment and reaction to the disease. The Supreme Court had also held that blacking out internet services indefinitely is not permissible under existing legislation.

Principal Secretary, Shaleen Kabr issued official order saying restrictions were revoked, “except to the extent that the pre-paid SIM cardholders shall be provided access to the Internet connectivity only after verification as per the norms applicable for post-paid connections”.

In a tweet, Former J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah also reacted and said to the news “4G Mubarak! For the first since Aug 2019 all of J&K will have 4G mobile data. Better late than never.