Going gets tough for telcos

Biometric authentication starts Dec 16; info on 7.65 per cent out of 13 crore SIM cards available till now, says Tarana

In the wake of massive forgery in the registration of SIM (subscriber identity module) cards using fake NID (national identity) cards, the government has decided to introduce biometric system for SIM registration from December 16.
The government has also decided to get completed the re-registration of SIM cards through NIDs prior to the introduction of the new biometric system.
State Minister for Posts and Telecommunications Tarana Halim disclosed this to media before holding a meeting with the chief executive officers of the mobile phone operators in the country.
She also said around 25 per cent of the 10 million SIM cards verified until yesterday were found to be registered properly.
The junior minister further said the biometric authentication system will be introduced to prevent forgery in SIM registration, and it will start in November on a trial basis.
“This is a warning for the users that they have to register properly. Operators will start using biometric details from December 16,” Tarana told the media before the meeting.
The government comes up with these moves after The Independent published several reports on SIM cloning and large scale irregularities in SIM registration. CEOs of mobile phone operators and representatives from the Election Commission’s NID registration wing, National Telecommunications Monitoring Cell and Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission attended the meeting held at the ministry yesterday.

Regarding the use of fake NID cards, Tarana Halim said that a case of 14,000 SIMs purchased against one fake National Identification (NID) card was detected during the ongoing SIM card registration verification process.
She also said that three NIDs were found that were used to register between 6,000 and 11,000 SIMs from different operators.
“Until now, registrations of 10 million subscribers have been verified. Of them, only 2.34 million have been found to be registered properly, which is around 25 per cent,” she told the media before the meeting.

Tarana also said that the data provided by the operators until Monday was insufficient. “The operators have issued around 130 million SIM cards and information of only 7.65 per cent have been made available until now”, the state minister said.
The country’s largest operator Grameenphone, a joint venture between Norway’s Telenor and Bangladeshi Grameen Telecom Corporation, with over 50 million subscribers, has come up with details of only 2.2 million that accounts for only 4.08 per cent of its customer base.
Airtel, a concern of Indian Bharti Airtel Limited, has provided details of 1.49 million users — about 15.47 per cent of its subscribers’ base.
Banglalink, owned by Telecom Ventures Ltd. of Malta, has provided information of 2.35 million, or 7.27 per cent of its users.
Details of 414,000 customers have been submitted by CityCell, which is 35.7 per cent of its total users, said Tarana.
Robi, a joint venture between Axiata Group Berhad of Malaysia and NTT DoCoMo Inc. of Japan, has provided details of 1.8 million customers (6.49 per cent) and state-owned TeleTalk has given details of 1.6 million or about 39.32 per cent of its subscribers.
Robi has the highest percentage (90.74%) of SIMs registered against fake NID cards while CityCell has the lowest percentage (58.58%).

When Grameenphone was contacted over the submission of relatively lower percentage of customer data, Sayed Talat Kamal, Head of External Communications of Grameenphone said, “The volume of data we have delivered to the authorities is at par with other major operators, however, the lower submission percentage figure is a direct reflection of our larger subscriber base.”
Meanwhile, due to the massive prevalence of SIM registrations using fake national identification (NID) cards, the government is planning to give mobile phone operators access to the NID database.
Tarana Halim said that if the mobile operators get access to the NID database, they will be able to tackle any SIM registration against fake NID cards in a better way.
She also said that the SIM that had been registered before 2012 were registered without proper information. Thus, operators will be sending a SMS to the subscribers’ where subscribers will be supplying his or her NID number, Name and Date of birth. The information will then be sent to the NID information center for verification.
When asked about the highest amount of fake information, Ekram Kabir, Vice President of Communications and Corporate Responsibilities of Robi told The Independent, “It won’t be fair to comment on this right now, as we have submitted the information and we are to be informed after the verification”.
Talking with The Independent, Grameenphone CEO Rajeev Sethi said that as fake documents are being used in registration of SIM cards, every possible step should be taken to thwart that. “This must be done to ensure national security”, he said.

 

Going gets tough for telcos

Biometric authentication starts Dec 16; info on 7.65 per cent out of 13 crore SIM cards available till now, says Tarana

In the wake of massive forgery in the registration of SIM (subscriber identity module) cards using fake NID (national identity) cards, the government has decided to introduce biometric system for SIM registration from December 16. The government has also decided to get completed the re-registration of SIM cards through NIDs prior to the introduction of the new biometric system. State Minister for Posts and Telecommunications Tarana Halim disclosed this to media before holding a meeting with the chief executive officers of the mobile phone operators in the country. She also said around 25 per cent of the 10 million SIM cards verified until yesterday were found to be registered properly. The junior minister further said the biometric authentication system will be introduced to prevent forgery in SIM registration, and it will start in November on a trial basis. This is a warning for the users that they have to register properly. Operators will start using biometric details from December 16, Tarana told the media before the meeting. The government comes up with these moves after The Independent published several reports on SIM cloning and large scale irregularities in SIM registration. CEOs of mobile phone operators and representatives from the Election Commissions NID registration wing, National Telecommunications Monitoring Cell and Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission attended the meeting held at the ministry yesterday. Regarding the use of fake NID cards, Tarana Halim said that a case of 14,000 SIMs purchased against one fake National Identification (NID) card was detected during the ongoing SIM card registration verification process. She also said that three NIDs were found that were used to register between 6,000 and 11,000 SIMs from different operators. Until now, registrations of 10 million subscribers have been verified. Of them, only 2.34 million have been found to be registered properly, which is around 25 per cent, she told the media before the meeting. Tarana also said that the data provided by the operators until Monday was insufficient. The operators have issued around 130 million SIM cards and information of only 7.65 per cent have been made available until now, the state minister said. The countrys largest operator Grameenphone, a joint venture between Norways Telenor and Bangladeshi Grameen Telecom Corporation, with over 50 million subscribers, has come up with details of only 2.2 million that accounts for only 4.08 per cent of its customer base. Airtel, a concern of Indian Bharti Airtel Limited, has provided details of 1.49 million users about 15.47 per cent of its subscribers base. Banglalink, owned by Telecom Ventures Ltd. of Malta, has provided information of 2.35 million, or 7.27 per cent of its users. Details of 414,000 customers have been submitted by CityCell, which is 35.7 per cent of its total users, said Tarana. Robi, a joint venture between Axiata Group Berhad of Malaysia and NTT DoCoMo Inc. of Japan, has provided details of 1.8 million customers (6.49 per cent) and state-owned TeleTalk has given details of 1.6 million or about 39.32 per cent of its subscribers. Robi has the highest percentage (90.74%) of SIMs registered against fake NID cards while CityCell has the lowest percentage (58.58%). When Grameenphone was contacted over the submission of relatively lower percentage of customer data, Sayed Talat Kamal, Head of External Communications of Grameenphone said, The volume of data we have delivered to the authorities is at par with other major operators, however, the lower submission percentage figure is a direct reflection of our larger subscriber base. Meanwhile, due to the massive prevalence of SIM registrations using fake national identification (NID) cards, the government is planning to give mobile phone operators access to the NID database. Tarana Halim said that if the mobile operators get access to the NID database, they will be able to tackle any SIM registration against fake NID cards in a better way. She also said that the SIM that had been registered before 2012 were registered without proper information. Thus, operators will be sending a SMS to the subscribers where subscribers will be supplying his or her NID number, Name and Date of birth. The information will then be sent to the NID information center for verification. When asked about the highest amount of fake information, Ekram Kabir, Vice President of Communications and Corporate Responsibilities of Robi told The Independent, It wont be fair to comment on this right now, as we have submitted the information and we are to be informed after the verification. Talking with The Independent, Grameenphone CEO Rajeev Sethi said that as fake documents are being used in registration of SIM cards, every possible step should be taken to thwart that. This must be done to ensure national security, he said.