As we gear up to get back to work at 9 AM after a long weekend. Remember that we have unrestricted internet access.
Meanwhile, 30th May will mark 300 days of disrupted internet access in Jammu and Kashmir. What does this mean? A thread. 1/n

Since this is still ongoing, there are no firm economic estimates of the costs, yet. However, we can start by estimating to number of hours of internet access have been impacted.

Well, that number is around ~3.5 billion hours for 12.25 million people. Let that sink in.
2/n

This is not gospel. It is an estimate, after all. But the magnitude is relevant.

How did I arrive at this?
Using internet subscriber density numbers for the service area of J&K from TRAI and extrapolating daily consumption hours from existing reports on 'active consumption'
3/n

Between Aug 4 and Mar 4, this number stood at around ~2.5 billion hours of pretty much a complete loss. And the 87 days since will have accounted for another ~ 1 billion hours by 30/5

Now, if you've come this far, there are a few more things I want to bring to your attention
4/n

1> The next set of orders regarding internet restrictions are due on May 27th (tomorrow).
2> Curiously, some recent orders have not specified a time-limit on some of these restrictions. This is new behaviour, I tweeted about this earlier too. https://twitter.com/prateekwaghre/status/1261517876701171712
5/n

3> In Feb, the IT standing committee picked up 'suspension of telecom services and their impact' as a subject of interest. However, with the pandemic and what-not, I don't really know what has happened since then.
If you do, please let me know too.
6/n

4>Since August, only 2 questions about restoration of internet in J&K have been asked during Lok Sabha question hour.
11 Feb- http://164.100.24.220/loksabhaquestions/annex/173/AU1510.pdf
18 Mar- http://164.100.24.220/loksabhaquestions/annex/173/AU3982.pdf
7/n

I know some will point out that access to whitelisted sites was an option between mid-Jan and early-Mar. @aldebaran14 and I have analysed that. https://twitter.com/prateekwaghre/status/1221080964794744839

And many will tell me that 2G is good enough. I've analysed that too. https://internetfreedom.in/supreme-court-directs-govt-to-file-reply-to-petition-seeking-4g-restoration-in-j-k/
8/n

Such protracted internet disruptions are bad policy at any time but are conscionable in the midst of a pandemic. The n'th order effects will be far beyond anything this thread can capture given its narrow lens or I can imagine.
I'll end here for now. But we must introspect.
9/9