Pakistani Mobile Phone Companies has completed the process of Biometric re-verifications of SIMS on the instructions of Federal Government of Pakistan to overcome the law & order and security threats. The durations spanned over a period of 3 months. The telecom companies were given the target to re-verify the 103 Million Mobile SIMs according to biometric method to stop the any misuse. Now on the expiry of extended time period, Mobile Telecom companies have blocked about 26 Million Mobile SIM connections across the Pakistan.
According to Biometric SIM re-verification procedure, the legitimate SIM owners were required to approach the concerned Mobile Operators, Franchise, retailer or outlet with their SIM card and National Identity Card to re-verify his/her identity by matching his/her fingerprint impressions with NADRA’s data base.
Here are some relevant statistics that shows the SIM re-verification figures as follows:
1 and 2 mobile SIMs per CNIC per Mobile Carrier selected were 64 million
3 and more Mobile SIMs per ID Card per Mobile Carrier were 30 million
Overall: Mobile Companies were assigned the re-verification of 103 million Mobile SIM cards in given period.
After 3 months time limit:
71.1 million Mobile SIM Cards verified according to biometric verification procedure against 60 million ID cards.
16.7 million Mobile SIM Cards blocked sue to their owners disowned them.
9.2 million Mobile SIM Cards Blocked as their owners failed to comply with the instruction for re-verification of SIM cards according to biometric method.
Overall, Pakistani Mobile Telecom companies blocked about 26 million Mobile SIM cards. These are general views, as the confirmed and final stats will be available later.
You can get your Blocked Mobile SIM from concerned mobile operator by proving your identity and complying with the procedure. Today, all mobile telecom operators of Pakistan will submit compliance report on Monday.
The sources at PTA (Pakistan Telecom Authority) told a Pakistani blog that the ranking of Mobile Operators after re-verification of Mobile SIMs remained unchanged, i.e. Mobilink Jazz on top followed by Telenor, Zong Ufone and Warid Telecom.
Here is Operator wise SIM blockage Statistics:
According to unconfirmed and unofficial facts, Telenor has blocked most number of SIMs than any other operator despite the fact that Mobilink Jazz has more number of subscribers. The unofficial sources reported that Telenor has blocked about 8.53 million SIM cards, while Mobilink stand at 2nd spot when it comes to most number of SIM blockage with 7.55 million blocked SIMs.
The re-verification of SIM cards according to biometric procedure resulted in loss of 4.5 million subscribers for Zong Telecom. Ufone Mobile Operator lost 3.86 Mobile SIM cards, while Warid remained at 5th spot in terms of most numbers of SIM blocked with 1.65 million blocked SIMs.
The New picture gives the following impact:
Mobilink is still leading the honor of having most numbers of subscribers with 30.01 million subscribers. Telenor stands at 2nd spot with 28.03 million subscribers. China based Mobile Operator reserved the 3rd spot with 23.52 million subscribers, while Ufone Telecom now has 17.87 million subscribers. Warid Telecom now owns 9.31 million Mobile subscribers in Pakistan.
As a user of SIM that is blocked by your respective Mobile Operator, you still has chance to get back your blocked SIM by re-verifying your identity according to biometric procedure. This time, the telecom operator will charge about 50 to 75 rupees as SIM replacement charges and will issue a new SIM after successful re-verification of your identity. You can avail this opportunity within next 180 days or 6 months, as after that period of time, the respective company has right to put the number for re-sale in open market.
The Overseas Pakistani residents have been given by a extended period of 6 months by authorities as they are allowed to use their SIM for next 6 months, however they have to verify their SIMs within given period of 6 months to avoid any inconvenience.