Some governments shut down telecom networks including the Internet to control dissent. Others do not. What are the conditions that give rise to the former action? Why do others not do this? Israel never shuts down telecom networks but Sri Lanka does.
Dialog Telekom took a courageous step in 2002, deciding within weeks of the Cease Fire Agreement being signed that it would supply telecom services to the people of the North and East who had been excluded from the country’s telecom revolution for so long, because of the conflict and the military’s prohibition of service in conflict areas. The services thus provided were, without question, the most important dividend that the people of Jaffna saw from the path of peace, followed by the mobility allowed by the opening and restoring of the A9 highway. Now, Dialog and the people of the North are paying the price of the path of war. For two months, the mobile networks have been shut down in the North, with service being allowed intermittently in the East. This means that approximately 220,000 families are unable to communicate with their loved ones in the North and that another 200,000 or so families are not sure their phone will work when they most need it.
Interesting link between ICT network growth and LIRNEasia’s interest in applying ICTs to disaster preparedness: BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Mobile masts signal rain showers “The signals from mobile phone masts have been used to measure rainfall patterns in Israel, scientists report. A team from the University of Tel Aviv analysed information routinely collected by mobile networks to make their estimates. Writing in the journal Science, the researchers say their technique is more accurate than current methods used by meteorological services. The scientists believe the technique can also measure snowfall, hail or fog. “It may also be important because if you know there is heavy rainfall – you can warn about floods,” Professor Hagit Messer-Yaron, of the University of Tel Aviv, told the BBC News website.