National Action Plan: 94m SIMs verified; deadline extended

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) informed the interior ministry on Tuesday that it had blocked 92.6 million mobile subscriber information modules (SIMs) since the national action plan began being implemented in January, 2015. “We have completed biometric verification of 94 million SIMs across the country. Also, blocked 92.6 million SIMs,” PTA chief Ismail Shah told a meeting at the Ministry of Interior on Tuesday. An estimated 111 million SIMs have been verified since biometric verification had been mandated, he told The Express Tribune. Further, 94.6 million SIMs had been verified since August, 2014, he added. As per the latest data available from PTA (March 2015), the mobile teledensity in Pakistan stands at 72.13% with 134.9 million subscribers. The government on Tuesday gave mobile network operators two more weeks to complete biometric verification of SIMs, setting a fresh deadline for May 15.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 29^th, 2015.