E-Paper
SMS services patchy after restoration: Valley residents
SMS, broadband, and mobile internet services were among those suspended on August 5 after parliament passed laws and resolutions bifurcating Jammu and Kashmir into union territories, and scrapped constitutional provisions giving the state special status.
At mid-night Tuesday, broadband at major hospitals and short messaging service (SMS) on all post-paid mobile phones were restored in Kashmir valley, although residents said the restoration has been patchy.
SMS, broadband, and mobile internet services were among those suspended on August 5 after parliament passed laws and resolutions bifurcating Jammu and Kashmir into union territories, and scrapped constitutional provisions giving the state special status.
Some of these services have since been restored, and other restrictions placed after the change, eased, although many local politicians held after August 5 still remain in detention.
Last week, the Ladakh Union Territory’s administration restored mobile internet in Kargil, leading to hopes that a similar restoration may be in store in Jammu and Kashmir as well.
According to reports coming in from the valley, SMS services between BSNL mobile phones have been completely restored, but there seem to be some problems with others.
Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Baseer Khan said SMS messaging on BSNL was restored while Jio and Airtel were facing technical issues. “They are sorting it out,” he said.
“Something is better than nothing. I received a service message on my Voda(fone) number. A message from my Voda SIM took 2.5 hours to reach a BSNL phone,” said Mohammad Anees, 30, a bank employee.
“I was trying from morning. While SMS service between BSNL to BSNL was working, it was not going from BSNL to other SIMs. The SMS service on postpaid private telecom numbers was also not working,” said Waseem Ahmad, a Srinagar resident and videographer.
Since the August 5 communications blackout, landline telephone services have also been restored.
Restoration of broadband services at hospitals was also patchy.
Medical superintendent of Sheri Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Dr Farooq Jan said that internet at just two terminals set up a few days back were working.
“The portals were installed in two rooms a few days back. But the broadband internet connections of individual doctors are yet to be restored. We were told that work is going on to restore them,” he added.
On Tuesday, after the government announced the restoration of SMS and broadband at hospitals, the Kashmir Press Club held a meeting and demanded restoration of internet services to media fraternity without delay.
“It has now become untenable for journalists to operate out of makeshift media facilitation centre which is inadequate to accommodate reporters, editors, photojournalists and video journalists of over 200 publications,” it said in a statement.
