Govt ordered 4G mobile internet curbs on Feb 6 in Delhi border areas

High speed mobile internet services were shut in and around the Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur border areas of Delhi that are central to the farmers' protests, on February 6. Telcos received directives from the law enforcement agencies to shut down the internet till midnight and the services were restored on Sunday.

"The letters came on February 5 directing telcos to shut down the mobile data and 4G services around the Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur border areas from February 6 morning till midnight," said a senior telecom executive aware of the development.

The letter came from the law enforcement agencies and was sent to the three telcos -Bharti Airtel , Reliance Jio Infocomm (Jio ) and Vodafone Idea (Vi). The telecom department was marked on the letters as well.


The three private players did not respond to ET's queries.

According to another telecom executive, although the three places were mentioned , subscribers in the adjourning areas would have been impacted as well.

"The telecom towers are never in the exact same location , so nearby areas which have telecom towers that provide signal to Tikri, Singh and Ghazipur would have been affected as well," he said.

Framers' unions had announced nationwide road blockades -"chakka jam" on February 6, demanding a repeal of the three farm laws. They were also protesting against previous high speed internet bans in protest sites.