Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has yet to audit mobile subscribers' data, verified during the Biometric Verification System (BVS) drive, despite passage of over one-and-a-half-year, raising questions on the process, it is learnt. The PTA had announced that it will make the results of third-party audit public after the completion of the process.
Further, it proposed strict action against telecom operators if found involved in submitting wrong SIM data including show-cause notices and heavy penalties as per the law. However, according to sources, the process is neither complete nor the results were made public, despite the passage of a long time.
SIMs' verification through BVS was made part of the National Action Plan (NAP) to avoid its misuse. After the conclusion of BVS drive, the Interior Ministry had directed the PTA to carry out a third-party audit of the whole exercise to verify its authenticity. The Authority had reportedly asked the Interior Ministry to give the task of audit to any probing agency; however, the request was turned downed.
After some delay, the PTA sought expression of interest (EoI) for hiring of a third-party auditor and later selected Secure Tech, a consultancy firm, for third-party audit of mobile subscribers' data. Secure Tech is reportedly run by an ex-army officer who has also served as chairman Nadra.
After getting required clearance from intelligence agencies, the PTA signed an agreement with the firm to carry out audit of SIMs verified through BVS. Due to security concerns, international consultancy firms were not invited; however, 14 local firms had expressed an interest in the exercise.
The subscribers of a telecom operator increased by about one million during March-April, at a time when the sale of new SIMs was banned at retailers, which raised question marks on the credibility of BVS drive, said sources, adding that the number of subscribers of other telecom operators declined during that period. The PTA had taken serious note of the alleged discrepancies in SIMs data submitted by telecom companies after the BVS drive and had directed all telecom operators to provide monthly subscribers information but only BVS verified.
Out of target of 103 million active SIMs, 75.5 million SIMs were re-verified through BVS while 27.5 million active SIMs were blocked by 15th May 2015 which brought down the number of active SIMs from 139 million to 111.5 million. According to the latest data of PTA, the number of mobile phone users in Pakistan reached 134.91 million by end-October 2016 from 134.41million by end-September 2016, registering an increase of around 0.5 million during the last one month. The number of 3G and 4G users in Pakistan reached 35.45 million by end-October against 34.32 million by end-September 2016.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.