Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has directed Internet Service Providers to suspend their services in Karachi and various other districts of Sindh on 10th of Muharram or October 24th, 2015, local TV channels are reporting.
TV channels said that internet services are directed to remain offline in Karachi and various other cities of Sindh due to security reasons as terrorists are expected to use internet services to communicate among themselves to attack religious activities on 10th of Moharram.
Not to be mentioned, mobile phone services are also going to remain offline in at least 68 districts across Pakistan.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, however, told ProPakistani that it hasn’t issued any order for suspension of internet services. It said that there’s no plan of sending such directive to ISPs relating to 10th of Moharram.
When checked with various ISPs, they hadn’t received any service suspension orders from PTA as of yet.
It is quite possible that TV channels are reporting the service suspension of wireless internet services, such as PTCL EVO, WiMAX and 3G/4G services, which is quite usual as operators are directed to shut down these (data) services along with mobile (voice) services.
It won’t be out of place to mention that fixed internet, such as DSL, Fiber, Cable Net etc. don’t offer portability and there’s apparently no security breach possible due to such internet services. But you never know.
It is seen that PTA sends such suspension directives at the last minute to make sure that anti-state elements aren’t prepared in advance.
If TV reports are to be believed then it would be first time in the history of the country that internet services will get suspended during month of Moharram.
This is a developing story and we will let you know of any updates.