Quetta:
After two weeks of suspension, mobile Internet services were restored in Balochistan on Thursday on orders from Balochistan High Court (BHC).
A two-judge division bench of the BHC-there consists of Chief Justice Rozi Khan Belfech and Justice Sardar Ahmad Naeem-Instruated Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to restore internet connection throughout the province.
PTA officials assured the court that services would be fully restored within two hours, and areas without security threats regain access immediately.
The bench issued the order for a constitutional petition filed by consumer civil society chairman Khair Muhammad Shaheen, who argued that the mobile Internet services were a basic form of communication for business people, students, educational institutions and others.
The petitioner also claimed that the suspension constituted a violation of fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 9, 15, 18, 19-A and 25 of the Constitution.
Mobile data services in the unstable province were suspended by PTA on the provincial government orders on August 6 until August 31 for security reasons.
Daily life was seriously disturbed as students, health professionals, journalists and business people complained that shutdown affected education, healthcare, business and routine communication.
