Dhaka-The telecom regulator is going to issue letter to the mobile phone operators to fine $50 for each pre-activated SIM (subscriber identity modules number).The regulator –Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has taken the move following the seizure of pre-activated SIMs which was not supposed to be in the market after the successful completion of biometric verification of ownership.
“We’ve directed the BTRC to issue letter of fine $50 to the operators within next week for each pre-activated SIM,” said state minister for posts and telecommunications Tarana Halim emerging from a meeting with the BTRC officials this (Thursday) afternoon.
She said they don’t allow any pre-activated SIM in the market, as the people of the country enduring hitches have completed biometric verification to ensure actual ownership of their SIMs.
Expressing her frustration on few media news that reported there were huge numbers of pre-activated SIMs available in the market, Tarana said: “we’ve found a small number of pre-activate SIMs that might below thousand.”
She said they have invested lakh of hours to do the jobs of re-registration that “shouldn’t be allowed to go in vain for few unscrupulous people.”
Bangladesh has completed biometric SIM verification on May 31 this year which was began on December 16 last year. According to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regularity Commission, currently the country has 13.13 crore mobile phone subscribers with six mobile phone operators.
But, till to the date, over 12.40 crore subscriber have completed biometric verification, said Tarana, adding, “Some SIMs have been deactivated while some has been activated following process.”
Meanwhile, the regulator has collected details of the SIM retailers and others linked to the biometric registration process.
Immediately, after the completion of the biometric campaign, on June 8, police in a drive in the capital arrested seven retailers for allegedly selling pre-activated SIMs, registered in the name of other persons, and seized 13 such SIMs from their possession.
Besides, on July 24, detective branch of police seized nearly thousand illegally registered SIMs, which were being sold in the market, and arrested seven people for their alleged involvement from Reazuddin Bazar area of Chittagong city.
