Internet Shutdown: CAA fire, Article 370 caused Rs 24.5 million losses per hour to telecom sector

New Delhi: Indian mobile operators are losing around 24.5 million rupees ($350,000) in revenue every hour they are forced to suspend interest services on government orders to control protests against a new citizenship law, a top lobby group said on Friday.

 

Also read: Gauhati High Court orders IIT-Guwahati to refund ‘Alumni-fee’

 

Countrywide protests have raged for three weeks after parliament passed legislation which gives minorities from neighbouring Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh a path to citizenship but excludes Muslims.

That, coupled with a plan for a national register of citizens, are seen by critics as anti-Muslim moves by government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

 

Also read: Internet services restored in Kargil after 145 days

 

To quell protests, the government has deployed thousands of police as well intermittently ordered mobile data shutdowns at a time people have used social media such as Instagram and TikTok to wage a parallel battle online. Such internet suspensions have been criticized by internet freedom activists.

On Friday, mobile internet was ordered shut in at least 18 districts in northern Uttar Pradesh state, a telecom industry source told Reuters.

 

Also read: Increased security, intensified patrolling and internet suspension in 21 districts in UP

 

Indians consume an average of 9.8 gigabyte of data per month on their smartphones, the highest in the world, according to Swedish telecoms gearmaker Ericsson. The country is the biggest market by users for social media firm Facebook and its messenger WhatsApp.

 

 

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