J&K 4G : High Speed Internet Restored In 2 Districts On Trial Basis Till September 8

The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Sunday decided to restore high-speed internet in the Ganderbal (Kashmir division) and Udhampur(Jammu division) districts from 9 pm on Sunday till September 8. However, in the rest of the districts, the internet speed will continue to be restricted to 2G only.

On August 12, the Attorney General for India, K K Venugopal, had told the Supreme Court that 4G speed will be restored in a calibrated fashion on a trial basis in the region after August 15.

"The committee has also stated that high-speed internet could be restored in certain areas with strict monitoring. The area should have low threshold of terrorist activities", submitted the AG before a bench headed by Justice N V Ramana, which was considering a petition filed by Foundation for Media Professionals seeking contempt action alleging non-compliance of the directions passed by the top court on May 11 to constitute a special committee to review the internet restrictions.

The 4G internet has been banned in the region since August 5, 2019, following the repeal of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Central government had imposed a complete communications blackout in the erstwhile state of J&K in August 2019, right after the abrogation of Article 370. Five months later in January 2020, on the basis of a Supreme Court order, the services were partially restored, only at 2G speed for mobile users. Access was provided only to a selected "white-listed" sites, and social media was completely blocked.

On January 10, the Supreme Court held that indefinite suspension of the internet is not permissible and restrictions on the internet have to follow the principles of proportionality under Article 19(2).

The blockade on social media was lifted on March 4, but the speed was retained as 2G for mobile data.