October 4, 2004
India: Barring SMS to stem rumors
To stem spreading of rumours on the final day of Ganesh immersion in Ahmedabad and Vadodara, under orders from the police, most cellular operators across the state barred SMS on mobile phones from 2 pm to 12 midnight, reports The Times of India.
"Most GSM operators claimed that the directive from the police called for barring SMS only in Vadodara.
"We had received a formal notification from the Vadodara police and have barred SMS for Vadodara subscribers only as we have a location specific system," an Airtel official said.
Several cellphone users had received an SMS on Sunday saying, "In compliance with orders of Gujarat police, SMS services will be unvailable on Monday from 2 pm to 12 midnight. Inconvenience is regretted."
Related - Rumors of the cell phone network being cut off occur whenever demonstrators get out of hand occured. As during the G8 Summit last May in Evian. But once such a cut off actually did occur, in March 2002 in Mumbai, the financial center of India, to help reduce social unrest and avoid the organization of illegal demonstrations.
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