We are getting reports that mobile phone signals of all five operators have been unavailable in twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi since 4AM today for reasons yet not clearly known to us. An unverifiable source has said that service is closed due to rehearsal of August 14 ceremony.
Service is reportedly available throughout the country and service closure area is limited to capital city and adjoining Rawalpindi city only, we have checked.
Our communication with mobile phone companies and PTA is yet not established, but it is safe to assume that network closure is rooted by security measures and that services are soon going to get back.
Unlike old times, PTA, interior ministry or other concerned departments now don’t make any information public about service closures.
They maintain that service is shut down in smaller chunk or areas — as compared to country wide shut downs we used to see during Mr. Rehman Malik — and on demand basis only and that this information can not be shared as the sole purpose for closures is killed when they tell the public in advance.
We will update this story when and if we get any further information on this.
Update:
We have confirmed that mobile services were blocked due to rehearsal of August 14th ceremony. Services were, however, restored at 12PM today.
