People suffer as cellphones fall silent

Islamabad : Though announced beforehand, the suspension of mobile phone service caught many residents of Islamabad and Rawalpindi completely off guard on Friday to their misery.

The people remained cut off from the telecom services from morning to evening due to the ‘security reasons’ caused by the streets protests.

Stringent security measures were in place with the police and Rangers patrolling the roads, especially in key areas.

The communication problems inconvenienced the residents.

Junaid Khan of G-9/2 complained that the cellphone service in his area remained suspended from the early hours of the day to the evening to his frustration. Aeza Jamal of E-11/2 protested the denial of access to mobile service and said she didn’t have landline phone service, so she remained cut off from the relatives for long hours. She said the people facing emergency situations suffered the most from telecom outages.

The motorists, motorcyclists, and commuters also complained of detours to reach destinations in the city due to the diversion of traffic from major roads.

The mobile phone service was restored in the evening. A telecom operator’s representative claimed that the telecom regulator had ordered service suspension for security reasons and mobile phone operators were bound by the law to act accordingly.