ISLAMABAD: Mobile phone users in Islamabad and Rawalpindi will be without signals and 3G and 4G broadband internet services.

According to Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), subscribers will be inconvenienced by the blackout of cellular services early on Friday morning till noon. A senior official in the PTA did not confirm the exact timing.

While PTA did not share details of the suspension of services, the official requesting anonymity explained that it was the same exercise as last year and the year before that.

“Security agencies do not announce suspension of services to maintain security. Announcing the plans defeats the purpose of securing the parade ground where personnel of joint armed forces will mark the Pakistan Day celebrations on March 23,” said the official.

The cellular mobile industry responded that it had not yet received directions from the government.

“However, the exercise is that we are directed by PTA to switch off some of the base transceiver stations (BTS) on the last minute and its details are kept confidential. Subscribers are going to experience what we call blanket outage almost throughout the lengths and breadths of the twin cities,” said an official of Mobilink.

An official in Telenor explained that in order to suspend mobile and 3G and 4G broadband services around the Parade Ground in Shakarparyan certain BTS towers would be turned off. This will likely have spillover effects on other areas and sectors as well, rendering more subscribers without services.

“The government can direct operators to suspend both mobile signals as well as 3G and 4G services for security reasons up to March 23,” he said.

Published in Dawn, March 23rd, 2018