Egypt orders mobile phone carriers to suspend service

The Egyptian government has ordered all wireless phone carriers to curb mobile services in the country.

Vodafone, one of Egypt's largest mobile providers, said in a statement: "All mobile operators in Egypt have been instructed to suspend services in selected areas. Under Egyptian legislation the authorities have the right to issue such an order and we are obliged to comply with it. The Egyptian authorities will be clarifying the situation in due course." The mobile phone shutdown follows the government ordering the suspension of Internet service on Jan 28, just after midnight Egypt time. On Jan 27, BlackBerry Wed data was blocked, and on Tuesday, Twitter and Facebook were unavailable to Egyptians. The protests in Egypt have centered around frustrations with high unemployement and the presidency of Hosni Mubarak, who has been in power for more than three decades. The lack of Internet access has caused alarm among many human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and the Center for Democracy and Technology.