After almost 540 long days, high speed 4G internet was restored in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. On Friday, the J&K government announced the restoration of 4G mobile Internet services.

"4G mobile Internet services being restored in entire J&K," government spokesman Rohit Kansal said in a tweet.

At present, 4G mobile services were available in only two districts of J&K -- Udhampur in the Jammu division and Ganderbal in the Kashmir division. All other 18 districts of the Union Territory had only 2G mobile Internet services.

Mobile telephony and Internet services were suspended on August 5, 2019, when Article 370 was abrogated and the state bifurcated and downgraded to a Union Territory.

While mobile telephony was restored after five months, restrictions on Internet services had since continued.

There had been growing demand from businesses, students, and professionals for the restoration of high speed mobile Internet services. Poor internet connectivity compounded the problems of people across the UT particularly students as an absence of high speed internet impacted the effectiveness of online classes.

Lt Governor Manoj Sinha has thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for the restoration of high-speed internet.

"I thank the Hon'ble PM @narendramodi Ji and HM @AmitShah Ji for acceding to our request and restoring 4G services in the entire J&K UT. The move will fulfil the aspirations of the people, particularly the youth," he said in a tweet.

Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah welcomed the move.

"4G Mubarak! For the first time since Aug 2019 all of J&K will have 4G mobile data. Better late than never," he tweeted.

(With Inputs from IANS)