Of the 13.26 crore active connections in Bangladesh, 11.6 crore were re-registered. Of them, 40-50 lakh connections were done with forged biometric details said a number of executives of mobile phone operators. These have to be deactivated.
Meanwhile, some users are facing a diametrically opposite problem: the text messages they received from their operators said they received a fewer number of SIMs under their names than they had re-registered. It was observed that a large number of pre-activated SIMs were registered biometrically with duplicate fingerprints and national identity cards and floated on the market for open sale. The disclosure clearly point out that untraced crimes and our national security may suffer setback if such duplicate SIMs remain functional in the market.
At a high-level meeting led by the State Minister for Telecommunications, it was decided that stern action would be taken against the persons responsible and also the mobile operators. The telecom regulator will fine the mobile operators US$ 50 for each pre-activated fake SIMs. Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), the telecom regulator, is set to formulate a directive for SIM deactivation process after a huge number of subscribers found their biometric details were forged to re-register numbers that they are not in possession.
It appears that serious flaws have caused setback in enforcing the biometrics registration scheme. It was very easy for people who registered the SIMs to get them registered to other numbers without the knowledge of the real SIM owner. This could easily have contributed to the fake pre activated SIMs in the market as terrorists and criminals would pay good money to purchase fake or reactivated SIMs.
But this possibility was largely overlooked by the government and it has resulted in this situation. It becomes very easy for anyone who has captured fingerprints and has National ID copies to create as many pre-registered SIMs as he or she wants, unless the original owners actually know that their IDs are being used for such acts.
The government should immediately find out which traders or employees of telecoms are dishonest and then ensure that they do not have physical possession of any such information. Otherwise we are looking at just the tip of the iceberg in terms of problems, which can occur.
