4G internet restored in J&K, 18 months after split

SRINAGAR: The government on Friday ordered the restoration of 4G mobile Internet in all of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

“4G mobile internet services being restored in entire J&K,” J&K administration spokesperson Rohit Kansal posted on Twitter on Friday evening.

Welcoming the development, former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah tweeted: “4G Mubarak! For the first time since Aug 2019 all of J&K will have 4G mobile data. Better late than never.”

The order restoring 4G in J&K asked the authorised officers to “ensure compliance…by the service providers forthwith”. The officers “shall also closely monitor the impact of lifting of restrictions”, it said.

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Mobile Internet services were suspended in Jammu and Kashmir on August 4, 2019, the day before the Centre announced that it would separate it into two Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

Internet services had been suspended on ground of anticipated "law and order situations as a result of the decisions."

4G Internet services on mobile were restored in two of the 20 districts – Udhampur in Jammu and Ganderbal in Kashmir – on August 16 last year on a “trial basis”. Elsewhere in the UT, people had only 2G Internet services on mobile.

Sources said a high-level committee headed by Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla recently took the decision to restore services based on reports by security agencies that restoration of 4G mobile Internet services were not likely to cause any major security problem in the Union Territory.

“A meeting was held this morning by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, where the go-ahead was given for restoration of 4G services based on the recommendation of the local administration and security agencies,” a government official told newsmen.