Egypt’s information ministry reported Monday evening that all mobile-phone networks will be shut down in the country in advance of Tuesday’s “march of millions” in Cairo. And Noor Group, the country’s last operating Internet service provider, has also been shut down, effectively taking the country offline. In response to the overall lack of service, Google is now offering a “speak-to-tweet” service, which allows those without an Internet connection to leave voice-mail messages that will be automatically converted into tweets.
Since Internet access was first limited last week, Egyptians have been finding creative solutions to communicating. The hacker group Anonymous has been circulating a document called “20 Ways to Circumvent the Egyptian Government’s Internet Block.” Some mobile-phone service will be supported by Vodafone and France Telecom. Some Egyptians have even resorted to ham radios — utilizing both voice and Morse codes — and fax machines are also being used.
Old-Fashioned Ways Circumvent Egypt’s Net Blackout [Sci-Tech Today]
Egypt says it’s shutting down mobile phone networks [CNN]
