As part of Taiwan’s annual Han Kuang exercises, drills that aim to model a response to potential Chinese invasion, the internet in major parts of the island was slowed from the typical 5G access to 256 Kbps. Telecommunications operators in the country slowed mobile web traffic to text-only speeds in the capital of Taipei alongside six other cities and localities.

As tensions with China have heightened, with the PRC sending military planes and various vessels towards Taiwan on a daily basis and carrying out large-scale military exercises from time to time, Taiwan has ramped up its defense exercises and purchases. While previous drills were not as disruptive and so went largely unnoticed, in recent years they have incorporated reservists and civilians in a greater fashion with heightened focus on different aspects of real-world scenarios.

Full report: Taiwan briefly slows its mobile internet to text-only speed as part of defense drill.