PoJK: Residents face severe mobile, internet service failures amidst rising costs

Muzaffarabad [PoJK], September 16 : Residents of Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir are grappling with a crisis involving mobile service providers, resulting in widespread financial and service-related issues. Mobile companies in the region are under fire for their poor service quality despite charging consumers hefty amounts each month.
A resident, expressing his dissatisfaction, stated, "I want to send a message that various mobile networks are coming here and offering different packages. Despite this, it often takes five attempts to connect a call. As for internet services, they are also in very poor condition; it takes an excessive amount of time to send a photo, and even sending a small message is extremely slow. I urge the administration to intervene. We are paying a lot, but the network conditions are in a terrible state. This is a major issue for everyone, especially for students."
He further said, "Despite paying hefty amounts, we still don't receive basic internet facilities. We have to move from one place to another just to make a video call. If the condition in the city is this poor, just imagine what the situation must be like around Muzaffarabad."
Highlighting the networking issues, another resident said, "Firstly, making a call is very difficult, and secondly, it's hard to afford these recharge packages. Additionally, if a call gets disconnected..."
According to a news article from Dawn, residents in PoJK face "excessively slow internet speeds and frequent disconnections," making even basic tasks like sending emails and making video calls problematic. Both urban centres and rural areas report difficulties in accessing stable internet connections, with significant delays in uploading and downloading data.
Local residents and stakeholders are increasingly calling for intervention to address these connectivity issues. Community forums and social media platforms are filled with complaints about poor service quality and high costs.