'Better late than never,' tweets Omar Abdullah as 4G services restored in J&K

4G mobile internet services are being restored in Jammu and Kashmir, a top official of the administration of the Union Territory tweeted on Friday. High-speed internet connection was disrupted in the erstwhile state in August 2019, before the Centre revoked the stat's special status by abrogating Article 370. On August 5, 2019, the state was turned into a union territory. The move to restrict high-speed internet services was taken back then and though 2G services were restored to several places, high-speed services were not restored.

4G internet services will be restored from Friday as J&K principal secretary (power and information) Rohit Kansal said in his tweet.

In August 2020 — a year after suspension — the J&K administration started restoring high-speed internet services by few districts at a time. Ganderbal and Udhampur were the first districts to get high-speed internet.

In April 2020, the Centre had told the Supreme Court that the decision on restoring 4G internet in J&K can not be made overlooking the militancy in Jammu and Kashmir.

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah expressed happiness over the restoration of 4G internet. "Better late than never," he wrote.

The internet shutdown which was imposed on August 4, 2019, was a preventive measure. First, the landlines were restored in J&K. On january 25, 2020, 2G services were restored only for verified users. On march 4, 2020, 2G internet on verified SIMs was only allowed.