4G rejuvenates hope about revival of online businesses in Kashmir   

Srinagar, Feb 7: Restoration of high speed internet services in Jammu and Kashmir has rejuvenated the hopes about online businesses getting revived in the Valley.
The internet services in Kashmir were snapped on August5, 2019, when the Centre announced its decision to abrogate J&K’s special status and bifurcated it into two union territories.
The 2G and the fixed line internet services were restored in January 2020, but the ban on high speed internet remained in force till February 5, 2021.
“Soon after the internet services were snapped in the valley, many online companies had to either wind up their businesses or had to shift their bases outside J&K,” said an entrepreneur.
He said that the internet ban had hit everyone. “As the 4G has been restored we are hoping that we will be once again able to pick the threads where we had left them on August 5, 2019,” he added.
A travel agent said, “Restoration of 4G services means we can interact with our prospective clients in a much faster way and we will be able to generate more business. During 2G times we were unable to send the pictures and videos to our clients promptly due to which people used to lose interest in our proposals and holiday packages we were offering.”
A businessman said, “Internet has revolutionized the world. The ban on 4G had pushed us back into the primitive ages. We are hopeful about our things working out faster now and the e-commerce which has taken a hit will get revived.”
He said, “During the past few years most of the businesses have moved to the online platforms. But during the past one and half year we were out of competition. Now we are hoping that we will be able to make our presence felt again. The business terms have changed. It’s all about how prompt one is. The internet platforms provide multiple choices to the customers and in absence of 4G services we were almost out of business for so long.”
It’s in place to mention here that high speed internet services were restored in J&K on February 5, 2021. These services remained suspended for 550 days.
The 4G facility was restored on a trial basis in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal and Jammu region’s Udhampur districts on August 16 last year after the Supreme Court’s intervention. In the rest of 18 J&K districts, the internet speed remained to be restricted to 2G only.