Telecom services collapse across Kashmir due to fiber cuts

Reminiscent of the 2014 floods, Kashmir Valley witnessed a major telecommunication breakdown starting late Tuesday afternoon, disrupting mobile and internet services across the region.

During the 2014 floods, telecom services were severely affected as floodwaters damaged infrastructure. However, this time, the disruption was not caused by flooding in the Valley but resulted from heavy rainfall in the Jammu region.

A senior official said multiple fiber optic cable cuts along the national highway disrupted the entire telecom network in Kashmir. Late Tuesday afternoon, mobile and internet services, including broadband, suddenly stopped working.

Except for some limited voice calling on one or two operators and slow internet speeds on Jio, high-speed internet and voice calling services from all operators were down. The situation remained unchanged overnight and continued into Wednesday afternoon.

Residents in the Valley were surprised at how the entire telecom system could collapse so suddenly. “During the last 24 hours, we have been hearing that fiber cables have been cut and that has hit the services. We haven’t seen an entire telecom system collapse in any state. Temporary disruptions can happen, but Kashmir has been without calling and internet facilities for the past 24 hours, which is very unfortunate,” said Zahoor Ahmad, a Srinagar resident.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah also expressed his frustration over the poor network. “Still struggling with almost non-existent communication. There is a trickle of data flowing on Jio mobile but no fixed-line WiFi, no browsing, almost no apps. Things like X open frustratingly slowly, and WhatsApp struggles with anything more than short text messages. Haven’t felt this disconnected since the terrible days of 2014 and 2019,” he wrote on X Wednesday morning.

Meanwhile, late Wednesday evening, internet services were restored, bringing much-needed relief to the locals.