Although some of the major news agencies were reporting that SMS and cell
phone coverage had been jammed, it was only partially true with parts of
Islamabad being taken off at times. However, given some of the activists’
experience with disaster relief communications, many groups knew that SMS
couldn’t be censored (Pakistan’s Telecoms Authority generally use cheap mobile
jamming devices which had proven ineffective in the past). Added to the fears
that the internet may be taken offline in the weeks ahead (this hasn’t happened
in Pakistan yet) and the growing concerns over the clampdown of independent
media in Pakistan, a coalition . . . was formed as an
umbrella group to resist the ‘emergency’ in Pakistan. It was decided to deploy
SMS to aid efforts in getting factual/accurate information flowing in a two-way
manner for the people by the people, from reliable sources embedded in various
locations to the masses and those concerned overseas.
For the full report: frontlinesms_pakistan.pdf
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