AT a time when incessant rains and flash floods were playing havoc with the normal life in almost all parts of the country, there was dire need to ensure continuation of telecommunication services for the safety and security of the people. However, these have been disrupted by floods in Karachi and the decision of the authorities concerned to suspend the cellular service in other parts of the country due to Moharram on the pretext of security.
We have been emphasizing in these columns that uninterrupted telephone and internet services have become a necessity of life and, therefore, their disruption not only inflicts financial harm on the mobile companies and service providers but also to the common man. The disruption in Karachi was understandable because of stoppage of electricity supply to cellular phone services’ towers as well as infrastructural damage but elsewhere in the country the suspension in the name of security was regrettable as it resulted into enormous difficulties for people who are heavily dependent on these services and rightly so. As the forced closure now has the backing of the judicial verdict, the authorities, this time round used the powers to suspend telecom and Internet services beginning from 7th of Moharram, which is also a departure from the past when services used to be suspended for some particular hours and in some particular areas. Suspension of services for consecutive four days is also an injustice for consumers who bought weekly or monthly packages. Some estimates also suggest that the cellphone industry would incur a total loss of around Rs. 2.4 billion due to autocratic decision of suspension of services. The government, therefore, must review the decision of forced closure of service and instead law-enforcing agencies should focus on intelligence gathering and increased vigilance to ward off dangers of terrorism.
