174 days later, 2G Net back in Valley

Sumayyah Qureshi
Tribune News Service
Srinagar, January 25

The government on Saturday restored 2G Internet services on prepaid and postpaid mobile phones and broadband facility in Srinagar and other districts of the Valley.

The restoration process, however, remained slow. Most of the users said their phones had no Internet even by 4 pm. The government has restored the Internet in phases in the 20 districts of J&K.

With the government controlling what the Internet users should access and only allowing white-listed sites and barring access to social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, WhatsApp and Instagram, people, especially the youth, are unimpressed by the decision to restore 2G services after a shutdown of more than five months.

Sheeba Binti Yusuf, a graduate, said: “If there are no social media sites, then what’s the use of restoring the Internet?” She said students had lost many opportunities due to the Internet gag.

Most students said social sites were instant and it was easy for them to share or receive study material or information related to admissions and examinations.

“The 2G Internet speed is such that a simple Google search takes a long time. Internet restoration is a good step and is definitely going to help but this is the age of social media as it provides information too. It was better if the government had continued the Internet gag,” said Abida Rashid, a student.

Students said they were the most affected as they had missed deadlines to fill forms for various exams. “What will we do with 2G?” asked Adfar, another student.

A journalist had his own concerns. “There is Internet but only select sites are accessible. How does that ease the situation?” he asked.