Staff Reporter :
Under the new directives of the government, all the mobile phone users will have to re-register their SIM [subscriber identity module] by the end of this year.
As per the process, all cell phone users will again apply to register their SIM in prescribed forms where there will be no scope for committing irregularities or to dodge the security surveillance. The information provided by the mobile phone users will be cross checked with National Identity Card [NID].
‘We will silence unregistered SIMs since they are being used in crimes. We have found that mobile connections are the sources of all criminal activities like militancy and abduction. So, we are going for re-registration of all existing numbers,’ Tarana Halim, State Minister for the Posts and Telecommunications Ministry, said on Tuesday.
Officials said the government has decided to re-register SIM cards with a view to preparing a new database of subscribers to check criminal activities through cellular networks.
The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunication has already sent directives to Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission [BTRC] giving one week time for starting the process.
The BTRC will also sign an agreement with the Election Commission as the mobile operators could enter the NID database to check the users’ identity. If the cell phone users do not re-register their SIM with proper identification, their connections will be blocked.
There will be new list of SIM card dealers and retail sellers and it would be taken from mobile phone operators. The new SIM card buyers will have to provide the address of the sellers, the officials said.
The above decisions came at a meeting of the Posts and Telecommunications division with BTRC on Monday where security agencies and top officials of different government-owned telecommunications companies took part.
The concerned ministry arranged the meeting following the security officials’ objection at recent meeting of Digital Taskforce chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, as law enforcement agencies cannot arrest those, who commit crimes using SIMs registered with false information.
‘We want to identify the main culprits behind the sale of unregistered SIM cards and punish them. The retailers, distributors or operators, anyone involved with it will be identified. They’ll be punished,’ Tarana Halim further said.
The State Minister also said she would sit with the mobile operators some time this week to discuss all the decisions taken at the meeting.
‘I will make compulsory to circulate warning about proper SIM registration in the advertisement of mobile phone operators. It will be like cigarette packets where warning about its negative impact is shown. The slogan will be: unregistered SIM is a danger to you, damaging for country,’ she added.
According to statistics provided by BTRC, there are 12.87 crore active mobile subscribers in the country of which at least 70 percent of the subscribers do not have proper registration.
In 2008, the BTRC initiated a re-registration process, but was not successful as there was no national identification [NID] database at the time. At present, the Election Commission [EC] has an NID database.
‘There may be a negative impact on the telecom businesses if the SIMs are suddenly deactivated. There’s still time to register these SIMs. We will set a cut-off date for registering the SIMs and then deactivate the unregistered SIMs once the time was over,’ Sunil Kanti Bose, Chairman of BTRC said.
The High Court last year ordered immediate deactivation of all unregistered mobile SIM cards.
There are widespread allegations that the SIM cards are sold without registration across the country, ignoring BTRC guideline. Some of these SIM cards are used by criminals as they are not traceable.
Under the new directives of the government, all the mobile phone users will have to re-register their SIM [subscriber identity module] by the end of this year.
As per the process, all cell phone users will again apply to register their SIM in prescribed forms where there will be no scope for committing irregularities or to dodge the security surveillance. The information provided by the mobile phone users will be cross checked with National Identity Card [NID].
‘We will silence unregistered SIMs since they are being used in crimes. We have found that mobile connections are the sources of all criminal activities like militancy and abduction. So, we are going for re-registration of all existing numbers,’ Tarana Halim, State Minister for the Posts and Telecommunications Ministry, said on Tuesday.
Officials said the government has decided to re-register SIM cards with a view to preparing a new database of subscribers to check criminal activities through cellular networks.
The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunication has already sent directives to Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission [BTRC] giving one week time for starting the process.
The BTRC will also sign an agreement with the Election Commission as the mobile operators could enter the NID database to check the users’ identity. If the cell phone users do not re-register their SIM with proper identification, their connections will be blocked.
There will be new list of SIM card dealers and retail sellers and it would be taken from mobile phone operators. The new SIM card buyers will have to provide the address of the sellers, the officials said.
The above decisions came at a meeting of the Posts and Telecommunications division with BTRC on Monday where security agencies and top officials of different government-owned telecommunications companies took part.
The concerned ministry arranged the meeting following the security officials’ objection at recent meeting of Digital Taskforce chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, as law enforcement agencies cannot arrest those, who commit crimes using SIMs registered with false information.
‘We want to identify the main culprits behind the sale of unregistered SIM cards and punish them. The retailers, distributors or operators, anyone involved with it will be identified. They’ll be punished,’ Tarana Halim further said.
The State Minister also said she would sit with the mobile operators some time this week to discuss all the decisions taken at the meeting.
‘I will make compulsory to circulate warning about proper SIM registration in the advertisement of mobile phone operators. It will be like cigarette packets where warning about its negative impact is shown. The slogan will be: unregistered SIM is a danger to you, damaging for country,’ she added.
According to statistics provided by BTRC, there are 12.87 crore active mobile subscribers in the country of which at least 70 percent of the subscribers do not have proper registration.
In 2008, the BTRC initiated a re-registration process, but was not successful as there was no national identification [NID] database at the time. At present, the Election Commission [EC] has an NID database.
‘There may be a negative impact on the telecom businesses if the SIMs are suddenly deactivated. There’s still time to register these SIMs. We will set a cut-off date for registering the SIMs and then deactivate the unregistered SIMs once the time was over,’ Sunil Kanti Bose, Chairman of BTRC said.
The High Court last year ordered immediate deactivation of all unregistered mobile SIM cards.
There are widespread allegations that the SIM cards are sold without registration across the country, ignoring BTRC guideline. Some of these SIM cards are used by criminals as they are not traceable.
