ISLAMABAD, Nov 26: Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) in collaboration with stakeholders is planning to introduce “inactive SIMs” in the market to ensure that mobile connections were sold to genuine customers.

Under this new system the activation of the SIMs would take place after the verification of subscriber’s antecedents from Nadra.

The franchises, retailers and mobile company customer service centres would sell inactive SIMs.

In its Annual Report 2008, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has said that the system which would be deployed in the country by early 2009 would not only help maintain confidentiality of customer but also improve centralized control and responsibility that would lie with operators as well as result in efficient utilization of call based online verification system to hasten proper activation.

The cellular operators were at present verifying their data through Nadra in batches, which at time became a lengthy and time consuming process.

For convenient, easy and effective verification different options were explored and finally SMS based verification system had been agreed upon by PTA, mobile operators and Nadra.

The systems had been deployed with mobile operators at selected outlets. Its expansion to all customer service centres, franchises and registered retailers was in process, the PTA said.

Following these measures, data of mobile subscribers’ antecedents for connections sold up to August 31, 2008 had been verified by Nadra. A total of 7.8 million unverified connections had been blocked.

As a policy, 10 connections on single CNIC were allowed per mobile operator. The excess connections on single CNIC had been regularized through a media campaign. To date 2.6 million excess connections had been blocked.

To control illegal sellers of mobile connections, mobile operators had now registered all franchises and retailers.

Although mobile services had benefited the people in terms of mobility, ease, affordability to everyone, yet there were anti-social activities related to it that could not be denied.

The report said that criminal activities and fooling/fleecing of innocent people through various tricks and false messages had augmented with the growth of mobile sector. Unsolicited messages and obnoxious calls had added to grievances of the subscribers.

To curb this menace, PTA’s 24/7 complaint cell had to forward more than

11,000 complaints to the operators concerned of which more then 9, 000 unsolicited SMSs were of severe nature. The various operators had blocked nearly 70 sets used for harassment purposes.