Critical Infrastructure As Weapon: Kashmir Telecom Blackout

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https://www.totaltele.com/503591/Kashmirs-telecoms-blackout-When-critical-infrastructure-becomes-a-weapon

Kashmir Telecom Blackout
When critical infrastructure becomes a weapon.

Large parts of the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir were subjected to
a total telecommunications blackout this week, as the Indian
government passed new legislation to reduce the region’s political
autonomy

Kashmir’s mobile and fixed line telecoms networks fell silent this
week, as the Indian government implemented a telecommunications
blackout following escalating tensions in the troubled province.
On Sunday evening, the Indian government cut telecommunication lines
in the region, leaving Kashmiris without mobile phone or fixed line
communication services.
The move came as the Indian government announced that it would be
revoking Article 370 – a special decree that gives Kashmir a greater
degree of political autonomy than any other Indian state. In doing so,
it has sparked huge unrest in the province and ramped up the already
fractious dialogue between India and neighbouring Pakistan.
Kashmir has been a flashpoint for separatist violence since India was
granted full independence from British rule in 1947, with religious
and ethnic tensions flaring between those who favour Indian, Pakistani
and even independent rule.
The current escalation in tensions shows how critical
telecommunications infrastructure is to people's everyday lives. If
you want to render a militant group or insurgency movement inert, the
first thing you do is to shut down the region's mobile phone networks.
It works - but in the process you are also grinding the day to day
lives of your citizens to a halt and causing potentially
life-threatening isolation.
The situation in Kashmir raises so many questions: To what extent
should the government be able to revoke access to connectivity? Have
we reached a point where people are entitled to demand connectivity as
a fundamental human right? When do the interests of national security
trump the rights of millions of people?
For everyday Kashmiris, the telecommunications blackout is having a
profound effect on their ability to do business and provide basic
services. Worse still, it is already affecting key services such as
healthcare.
“We are managing for now,” a senior hospital official in the region’s
main city of Srinagar told journalists from Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-kashmir/second-day-of-telecoms-blackout-in-kashmir-after-india-scraps-special-status-idUSKCN1UW0M2
adding that conditions were worsening.
Shop keepers in the region also warned of imminent food shortages,
unless the telecommunications blackout was lifted soon.
“No provisions are left in my shop, and no fresh supplies are coming,”
grocery store owner, Jehangir Ahmad, told Reuters.
As the Indian government struggles to suppress the growing resentment
on the streets of Kashmir, the State’s telecoms blackout could end up
being a catalyst for dissent, as people rail against the disruption to
their lives.

Indian Telcos haemorrhaging money at a time when they can least afford it
In addition to the bevvy of practical and philosophical questions the
telecommunications blackout raises, there is also the very real
question of who will be expected to bare the financial cost.
Indian mobile network operators are already surviving on starvation
rations, with the average ARPU for the industry hovering somewhere
between $1.50. All this at a time when they are expected to be
investing multiple billions of dollars in capex for their 5G networks,
due to launch next year.
A report in the Business Standard
https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/telcos-to-lose-rs-4-5-crore-a-day-as-internet-services-suspended-in-kashmir-119080501815_1.html
said that the enforced blackout could end up costing Indian telcos as
much as $40-$50 million per day in lost revenues (4-5 crore rupees).
The report shows that Bharti Airtel stood to lose the most, with 5.64
million subscribers in Jammu and Kashmir. Next up was Reliance Jio
with 3.31 million, whilst the newly merged Vodafone Idea had 1.34
million and state owned BNSL another 1.21 million. None of those
operators will relish the prospect of having to reimburse customers
for failing to provide services – especially given that the current
situation is way beyond their control.
As the crisis in Kashmir continues, civilians and MNOs alike will be
hoping that critical telecoms services can be restored as soon as
possible.