DUSHANBE, October 10, 2014, Asia-Plus – Mobile phone users in Tajikistan say they have not been able to send text messages from their mobile phones since yesterday.
Subscribers to mobile phone operators such as TCell, Babilon, MegaFon and Beeline says they have not been able to send text messages from their mobile phones since October 9.
Asia-Plus has applied to these companies to know the reason for cutting off the SMS service.
The TCell call center said the SMS service had been cut off for technical problems. “We do not yet know when this service will be restored,” the TCell call center operator said.
Operators form the MegaFon call center was perplexed to know that the SMS service does not work and promised to know the reason for cutting off the SMS service.
Beeline call center operators said that they were inquiring about the reason for cutting off the SMS service.
Asia-Plus has failed to get other mobile phone operators on the phone.
We will recall that Internet has been inaccessible in the northern Sughd province since October 5. ISPs refrain from commenting on the reasons for blocking access to Internet in Sughd while some sources blame the disruption on “technical problems.”
Many news websites that were also blocked on October 5 are still inaccessible in Dushanbe.
We will recall that Internet users in Tajikistan say hundreds of websites, including Facebook and YouTube, have been inaccessible in the country since October 5.
The state communications service agency’ says it has not given any orders to block any sites.
Representatives of a number of Internet Service Providers (ISPs), however, say they received letters from the communications service agency on October 4 asking them to block access to nearly three hundred websites. Representatives of some other ISPs say they did not received official letters but they received phone calls from the agency asking them to block access to some two hundred websites.
Asomuddin Atoyev, the chairman of Tajikistan”s Association of Internet Service Providers, says he does not have a proof that access to websites was ordered by the communications service agency. “But judging by unprofessional approach, one can guess that the communications service agency is behind this order,” Atoyev said.
According to him, blocking of websites may be linked to the opposition Group 24’s calls on social networks for a protest in downtown Dushanbe on October 10.
