�Telcos to get access to NID database by next week�

Mobile phone operators will have access to the National ID database by next week. To check the information regarding SIM registrations, the six operators signed a bilateral deal with Election Commission (EC) at the latter’s Agargaon office in the capital on Tuesday, said NID Wing Director Anwar Hossain.
“Technical work is going on now to ensure access of National ID database to the operators. They will be able to cross check the information regarding SIM registrations and National Identity Database (NID) soon,” Director General (acting) of NID Wing Syed Mohammad Musa told The Independent yesterday.
With this, all the six operators—Teletalk, Banglalink, Citycell, Grameenphone, Robi and Airtel—will be able to verify subscribers’ information.
Robi vice president Ekram Kabir said this was a very big step to stop illegal registrations as operators would now have access to subscribers’ information.
To access information from the EC, the operators will have to pay Tk 5.25 lakh in advance to the poll panel to check information and an additional Tk 2 each time they do so.
Till now, the central bank, the National Board of Revenue (NBR), the Passports Department and two private banks have subscribed to this service from the EC.
According to information from the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), there are now nearly 13 crore mobile phone subscribers in the country. However, the EC database has only 9.62 crore registered voters.
Tarana Halim, state minister for telecommunications and posts, had expressed her ire at the operators as they were slow to give out NID information.
After the process started, operators provided information relating to nearly 1 crore subscribers; of them, only 23,43,680 SIMs had been properly registered.
According to the information with the EC, there are more than 9,620,000 lakh voters, but there are around 13 crore mobile phone subscribers.
However, it was found that of them, 14,117 SIMs were registered against a fake NID each, and 11,866, 11,328 and 6,179 SIMs were registered against three more fake NIDs each.
The whole process of SIM re-registration started from September 15 and will continue till March 31, 2016. From April 2016 onwards, the mobile operators will have to pay a fine of $ 50 per unregistered SIM.

 

�Telcos to get access to NID database by next week�

Mobile phone operators will have access to the National ID database by next week. To check the information regarding SIM registrations, the six operators signed a bilateral deal with Election Commission (EC) at the latters Agargaon office in the capital on Tuesday, said NID Wing Director Anwar Hossain. Technical work is going on now to ensure access of National ID database to the operators. They will be able to cross check the information regarding SIM registrations and National Identity Database (NID) soon, Director General (acting) of NID Wing Syed Mohammad Musa told The Independent yesterday. With this, all the six operatorsTeletalk, Banglalink, Citycell, Grameenphone, Robi and Airtelwill be able to verify subscribers information. Robi vice president Ekram Kabir said this was a very big step to stop illegal registrations as operators would now have access to subscribers information. To access information from the EC, the operators will have to pay Tk 5.25 lakh in advance to the poll panel to check information and an additional Tk 2 each time they do so. Till now, the central bank, the National Board of Revenue (NBR), the Passports Department and two private banks have subscribed to this service from the EC. According to information from the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), there are now nearly 13 crore mobile phone subscribers in the country. However, the EC database has only 9.62 crore registered voters. Tarana Halim, state minister for telecommunications and posts, had expressed her ire at the operators as they were slow to give out NID information. After the process started, operators provided information relating to nearly 1 crore subscribers; of them, only 23,43,680 SIMs had been properly registered. According to the information with the EC, there are more than 9,620,000 lakh voters, but there are around 13 crore mobile phone subscribers. However, it was found that of them, 14,117 SIMs were registered against a fake NID each, and 11,866, 11,328 and 6,179 SIMs were registered against three more fake NIDs each. The whole process of SIM re-registration started from September 15 and will continue till March 31, 2016. From April 2016 onwards, the mobile operators will have to pay a fine of $ 50 per unregistered SIM.