Slowing down: Consumers lose interest in SIM re-verification

Number of SIMs verified per day falls by 80% as campaign approaches the deadline.

KARACHI:

There is a likelihood that cellular mobile operators (CMOs) will not be able to complete biometric verification of 103 million subscriber identity module (SIM) cards by the deadline as the number of SIMs verified per day has dropped by a whopping 80% in the final days of the campaign.

In the wake of December 16 terrorist attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar, which claimed over 140 lives, the government had directed CMOs to re-verify 103 million SIMs through the BVS technology in 90 days ending April 13.

The directive was part of the government’s National Action Plan against terrorism. The government had set February 26 deadline for consumers possessing more than two SIMs while those with two or less SIMs had until April 13 to get their SIMs re-verified. CMOs were asked to block the SIMs not verified by the deadline.



However, the campaign has slowed down in its final stages, making it difficult, if not impossible, for the CMOs to process all the 103 million SIM cards.

The telecom industry has recorded a slump in the number of SIMs verified per day, especially after the February 26 deadline for the first phase, sources familiar with the matter told The Express Tribune.

Before February 26, the CMOs were able to process up to 1.3 million SIMs a day, which declined to 250,000 SIMs per day in the second and final phase, sources say.

“The latest figures show that people have lost interest and are not coming out to get their SIMs re-verified,” said an official.

Responding to a question, the official said most subscribers had assumed that their mobile phone connections would be blocked after February 26, but that didn’t happen. Moreover, the April 13 deadline was meant for those with two or less SIMs, but it was misunderstood by many as the extended deadline gave an impression that the government had a soft stance.

“The customers that are not coming out to get their SIMs re-verified seem to be under the impression that the April 13 deadline will be extended as well,” the official said, adding the government is very strict about the deadline and all unverified SIMs would be blocked after April 13.

The CMOs had started the BVS campaign very aggressively and, by March 8, processed more than two-thirds, 68.7 million SIMs, of 103 million subscriptions they were required to re-verify by mid-April.

According to the telecom regulator, 10.9 million SIM cards were disowned by the users for blocking by March 8 – the number includes 8.2 million SIMs that were blocked already.

However, the numbers have significantly gone down in the following weeks.

As of March 23, the five CMOs were able to verify 74 million SIMs or 72% of the target against 57 million CNICs, according to the statistics obtained by The Express Tribune.

Even if the number doesn’t decline further and CMOs continue to process 250,000 SIMs a day, they can process 4.7 million more connections, which will take the total to just under 80 million – still 23 million short of the target.

Published in The Express Tribune, March  26^th,  2015.

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