Government Suspends Internet Services in Some Parts of Balochistan

The government has suspended internet services, wireless data services i.e. 3G, 4G/LTE, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) of Cellular Mobile Operators (CMOs) and PTCL in the districts Qilla Abdullah, Chaman and Pashin of Balochistan.

The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications has revealed that the Wireless Data services i.e. 3G, 4G/ UTE, GPRS of CMOs and of PTCL are closed in the aforementioned districts for indefinite period of time.

These services are closed in pursuance to the instructions of Law Enforcement Agency (LEA), till further orders.

However, MoIT cannot give an exact date for service restoration at this stage.

It is worth mentioning that the Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication recently expressed serious concerns over suspension of mobile phone networks in Mohmand Agency, FATA and suspension of internet as well as PTCL services in the area.

In response to the questions from the committee members, PTA responded that Ministry of Information Technology issued a Policy Directive dated 26th December 2009 regarding “Closure of Telecom Services due to National Security Concerns” which authorizes designated organizations to initiate closure requests.

PTA is the focal point to receive closure of services requests from all concerned departments and can issue necessary instructions for implementation through concerned operators.

In pursuance to the instruction of Ministry of Interior (MoI), only Internet/Wireless data services 3rd Generation (3G)/4th Generation (4G)/General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) of Cellular Mobile Operators (CMOs) and Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) are closed in complete FATA region to deny this facility to the terrorists since 14th June, 2016 and will remain closed till further orders.

Furthermore, on the instructions of Army, complete mobile services of CMOs operating Mohmand Agency are closed since 15th March, 2017 due to an ongoing military operation.

PTA chairman Ismail Shah said that the cross border signal issue has been raised with Afghanistan through Foreign Office. He further said that jammers are not the solution to the problem.