No 4G Services Beyond Ganderbal & Udhampur Districts in J&K: Admin

Mobile internet and broadband services were shut J&K prior to abrogation of Article 370 on 5 August 2019.

Representative image.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Tuesday, 8 September decided against extending 4G mobile internet facility beyong Ganderbal and Udhampur districts.

However, the high-speed facility which was restored on a trial basis in Kashmir's Ganderbal and Jammu region's Udhampur on 16 August would continue till 30 September as there has been no report of misuse in the two districts.

Citing possibilities of misuse by terrorists, Principal Secretary in the Home Department Shaleen Kabra in the official order said that after reviewing the situation, internet speed will remain restricted to 2G in the rest of the districts.

The Centre had approved relaxation from 2G to 4G in Ganderbal and Udhampur districts on an experimental basis.

However, Attorney General KK Venugopal had told the court that a special committee will assess the impact in a calibrated manner. The relaxation was not applicable to adjoining international border or LoC areas and will be done in places with low intensity of terrorist activities.

Mobile internet and broadband services were shut down in the region prior to the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution on 5 August 2019, that stripped Jammu and Kashmir of its special status.

While 2G network and broadband services have gradually returned, 4G continues to elude mobile internet users in the Valley.

(With inputs from NDTV.)