J&K Govt restore 4G internet in two districts on trial basis till September 8

The Jammu and Kashmir government on Sunday restored high-speed mobile Internet in the districts of Ganderbal (Kashmir) and Udhampur (Jammu) on a trial basis till September 8, 2020.

. “ The high speed mobile internet services will be restored in Ganderbal and Udhampur districts forthwith, in trial basis ,” states the order signed off of by the Principal Secretary to the Government of J&K (Home), Shaleen Kabra.

. The service has been made operational from August 16 and will continue till September 8, 2020, as per the order.

. The development comes in the wake Attorney General KK Venugopal submitting before the Supreme Court last week that internet services will be restored in some specific districts in Jammu & Kashmir on an experimental basis.

The submission was made in response to a contempt plea moved before the top Court which asserted that the Centre has not reviewed the 4G restrictions as no order has been placed in the public domain.

On July 28, the Court had asked the Centre to verify if Jammu and Kashmir’s administration has sent any communication to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs for restoring 4G mobile internet services in the region.

. Internet services were suspended in Jammu and Kashmir on August 5 last year shortly before the abrogation of Article 370 and 35-A of Constitution by the Indian parliament.

. Thereafter, the government restored mobile Internet services on January 25 but asked service providers to limit access to only the websites white-listed by the government and to restrict the speed to 2G.

. The areas selected for High-speed internet services are those having low-intensity terrorist activities and minimal spillover effects on neighbouring areas.

. Ganderbal is considered one of the more peaceful districts in the Valley. Udhampur was selected as it has no proximity to the border.

. The development comes in the wake Attorney General KK Venugopal submitting before the Supreme Court last week that internet services will be restored in some specific districts in Jammu & Kashmir on an experimental basis.

.4G Internet in Jammu & Kashmir: Will restore service in select districts on experimental basis after August 15, AG tells Supreme Court. The submission was made in response to a contempt plea moved before the top Court which asserted that the Centre has not reviewed the 4G restrictions as no order has been placed in the public domain.

. On July 28, the Court had asked the Centre to verify if Jammu and Kashmir’s administration has sent any communication to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs for restoring 4G mobile internet services in the region.

. Read the J&K order passed on August 16:

J&K Govt restore 4G internet in two districts on trial basis till September 8

Mohsin Dar

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