Operators in Pakistan racked up losses as a result of a one day suspension of mobile services in 15 of the country’s cities, reports Pakistan’s Daily News.

Officials from the operators said millions of minutes of calls and SMS messages were made impossible due to the block, which was put in place by the Ministry of Interior as part of an effort to reduce a recent spate of terrorist attacks across the country.

Based on a daily revenue figure reported by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority for the final quarter of 2011, the Daily News calculated that the losses amounted to approximately PKR807 million (US$8.5 million). Services were banned for 10 to 12 hours during working hours.
 
One unnamed operator official suggested that a block on mobile services was not a suitable way to go about tackling the violence in the country.