Kashmir: Glitches mar SMS service on 1st day of restoration

The announcement of restoration of SMS services in Kashmir on the New Year Day came as a happy news for residents in the Valley, but some technical glitches prevented several people from reaching out to their loved ones as the facility was not working across all network providers.

Several people in the Valley complained that SMS services were working only on some network providers including BSNL.

“We can only send or receive SMS on BSNL numbers. It does not work on Airtel or other numbers I have,” Umar Bhat, a resident of the old city area of Srinagar said.

Bhat said he had been trying to reach out to his relatives and friends in and outside the Valley by sending SMS to them, but only the messages of the BSNL were getting through.

“The government yesterday announced the restoration of the services at midnight. We were waiting for the services to resume. But we were dejected to find that it was working only on some networks,” he said.

Mohammad Ishtiyaq, a resident of Dalgate area of the city here, termed the government's announcement a “cruel joke”.

“It is a cruel joke on the people. They announced it with much fanfare but the services have not been restored fully,” Ishtiyaq said.

He said the services were working only intra-networks and that too on few service providers.

“The BSNL to BSNL message is going on or maybe on some other networks, but only within that network. We cannot send or receive messages from people using other networks in the Valley. I have an Airtel number and every time I send a message, it fails to get through,” he said.

Some users said they can receive or send messages to certain numbers of a particular subscriber only after few attempts.

“The messages are going through after several attempts, but only to certain numbers. I have a Jio number and I can send messages to my brother on his Jio number, but the messages do not get through to my father's Jio number,” Zulfikar Ahmad Mir said.

He said the announcement had brought hopes for the people who were happy to learn that they could now use the service.

“It was a happy news on the New Year Day. But some problems have made several people unhappy. We hope everything is sorted out soon and the services are resumed fully,” Mir said.

An official working with a private service provider here said there were some “technical glitches” which were hampering the full restoration of the service.

“We are working on it and hope the services are restored fully across all networks soon,” he said.