Suspension of mobile phone and internet services has been imposed on Quetta for two consecutive days starting late evening on Sunday on the grounds of security considerations, with media reports saying the services would resume at midnight on January 7. Meanwhile, today Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) called a province-wide shutter-down strike. Maulana Abdul Wasay, leader of JUI Balochistan, stresses that protests will continue until their demands are met.
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Owing to frequent shutdowns in the use of the Internet and social media, Pakistan is suffering huge financial losses. A report by Top10VPN.com stated that Pakistan lost 1.62 billion dollars dollars in 2024 due to the internet shutdowns, this is the most in the world. He further stated that Pakistan tops the world and is followed by such countries as Sudan and Myanmar. The report recorded that there were 18 instances of internet disruption in Pakistan in a year, as imposed by-elections, protests, and ‘information control’. The total duration of these shutdowns is 9735 hours affecting almost 83 Million users.
The most expensive disruption is the ongoing ban on X, which has been going on since February 18, at a cost of $1.34 billion. Another significant disruption was reported in Balochistan, which took place between July 16 and August 21 when the entire province was under protests in Gwadar. This resulted in a loss of $11.8 million in 864 hours.