Idea extends free talk time in Kashmir till October 3

All prepaid customers of Kashmir can now make unlimited local Idea calls for the next 15 days without doing any recharge

Telecom operator Idea Cellular has extended free talk time offer for pre-paid customers in flood-affected Kashmir till October 3.

"All Idea prepaid customers of Kashmir can now make unlimited local Idea calls for the next 15 days without doing any recharge. This has been enabled till 3rd October 2014," Idea Cellular said in a statement.

Besides, the company has auto-credited Rs 12 in the accounts of customers with low balance in Srinagar region to enable people make emergency calls if stranded.

The company said natural calamity in the region has destroyed some of its mobile tower sites and other network equipment, impacting coverage.

However, the company has been able to restore services in all district headquarters in Jammu and Kashmir.

"The network has been completely restored in Jammu region and parts of Anantnag, Bandipore, Baramula, Budgam, Ganderbal, Kulgam, Pulwama, Shupiyan and Srinagar," the Idea statement said.

On the other hand, Airtel, the largest telecom operator in the state in terms of subscriber base, said it is continuing to run fee PCO services in the flood-affected region.

It said 85 per cent of its mobile sites have been restored and around 90-95 per cent sites will be operational in next 72 hours.

"Around 90-95 per cent of the network will be up in the next 72 hours," an Airtel official said.

The company said its network connectivity is now restored in all 22 district headquarters and all its 3G sites in the valley are running normally.

"Connectivity restored at J&K Bank headquarter in Srinagar along with some of its other branches in the state and efforts are on to secure complete normalcy across all its branches and ATMs.

"Other major banks and government relief camps in Srinagar have also been connected now using 13 VSATs that have been installed at various locations in the city," Airtel said in a statement.