4G mobile internet services being restored in entire J&K after nearly 2 years

4G mobile internet service is being restored in the entirety of Jammu and Kashmir, said Rohit Kansal, Jammu and Kashmir Principal Secretary (Power & Information), on Friday, 5 February.

The internet service was first curbed in the region on 5 August 2019, hours before the Centre’s abrogation of Article 370.

In days that followed, the state was split into two union territories - Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh - and several politicians, including three former Chief Ministers, were taken into detention to pre-empt a pushback.

Over the last year, broadband internet and slow mobile data were restored in phases since the Supreme Court told off the government earlier while hearing cases that called the curbs an assault on free speech and democratic rights.

On January 10, 2020,  the Supreme Court held that indefinite suspension of the internet is not permissible and restrictions on the internet have to follow the principles of proportionality under Article 19(2).

The blockade on social media was lifted on March 4 last year, but the speed was retained as 2G for mobile data.

Later, on August 16 last year, the Centre restored 4G internet services in two districts -Ganderbal (Kashmir division) and Udhampur(Jammu division), and the denial of high speed internet in the other 18 districts were being extended from time to time, citing the risk of terrorism.