Srinagar, Sept 6: Ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr, the cell phone subscribers are demanding restoration of the SMS service in the state.

 The ban on the service, which was snapped by the government more than two months back, has put lakhs of subscribers to hardship and with Eid days away, the mode of greetings would be curtailed.

 “With Eid-ul Fitr just days away, the government should lift the ban so that we could greet our relatives on the occasion,” said Samina Mir, a final year student.
 With cost of an SMS being lower than a phone call or voicemail, the service stoppage has left many without the “most affordable means of contact.”

 “What one could convey through an SMS at a cost of 50 or 60 paisa has to be conveyed through a phone call worth several rupees. So for students SMS is the best means of communication, who cannot afford huge phone bills,” said Imtiyaz Ahmad, a BSNL subscriber, and added, “I have to spend five times more on passing a message through a phone call as compared to an SMS.”

  “Then if you urgently needed to get in touch with someone who could not receive your call, you could send him or her an SMS and easily convey your message. Besides, the mobile service, especially that of BSNL, often remains disturbed in Kashmir, so the SMS service could help you that time as well,” said Aashiq Hussain, another subscriber.

 Many subscribers, who had recharged their cell phones for various SMS schemes, demanded that they shall be able to avail the benefit once the SMS service is restored.

  “Prior to the ban, I had recharged my cell phone by Rs 75 for a special SMS scheme, though without receiving any service. So the validity period of this scheme should be recounted once the service is restored,” said Ishrat Khan, an Airtel subscriber.

 Pertinently, this is for the third time when SMS services have been banned in the state ostensibly to prevent “spread of rumors during protests.” Earlier on August 3, 2008, the SMS services were suspended in Jammu and two days later in Kashmir in the wake of protests in the state following the Amarnath land transfer row. The ban remained under implementation for many months.

 Later on April 16, 2010, the Union Telecom Ministry had directed mobile operators in J&K to stop SMS service on all postpaid mobile phones, while pre-paid users were permitted to use 10 text messages a day. But then the order was revoked only a few hours before it was to be implemented. Then on June 29, 2010, the SMS services again fell prey to the political unrest in the state after the onset of the agitation against the alleged killings of teenage protesters by police and paramilitary forces.

 Besides that, prepaid mobile connections in J&K were banned on November 1, 2009, by the Union Home Ministry. The ban was revoked in January this year on the conditions that the telecom companies would re-verify the identity of the existing subscribers and strictly verify the new subscribers.

 A large section of mobile phone users in the Valley called such moves as uncalled for. They said that such announcements had created a situation where people would think twice before buying a SIM card or a mobile phone. “Amid a situation where your phone can anytime become irrelevant due to ban, you would think twice before buying a SIM and a handset,” they said, adding that there were many places in India, where everyday an untoward incident took place, “but the government doesn’t issue such orders there.”

 The officials of mobile companies, however, refused to make a comment in this regard. “Since this is something related to the national security, we can not comment on it,” they said. 

Lastupdate on : Mon, 6 Sep 2010 21:30:00 Mecca time
Lastupdate on : Mon, 6 Sep 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Tue, 7 Sep 2010 00:00:00 IST