It's something I think we'll see more of in the future and speaks to the power of the masses having a direct connection to the outside world - that there are parties who recognize that to pursue their agenda they need to disrupt Internet access.
There are people who don't actually _care_ all that much if their neighbors can read yahoo mail or not.
- Ideological motive: Internet corrupts people, we must protect them from evil influence.
- Political motive: Disrupting infrastructure as an attack on the current rulers.
- Financial motive: Maybe they sell cable repair services or satellite-based internet access.
Or just plain vandalism, which doesn't need a discernable motive.
No way of telling without asking them, I guess.
You could also with countries whose access is limited to one or two points threaten them economically.
Indeed, this was the fundamental demand of al qaeda and Osama Bin Laden, for the west to halt contact with the Islamic world and stop influencing it.