The trial run of biometric SIM registration system has begun in the capital on Wednesday.
Sajeeb Wazed Joy, ICT adviser to the prime minister, inaugurated the new SIM registration process at the Posts and Telecommunications Division at the Secretariat around 10:30am.
Tarana Halim, state minister for Post and Telecommunications Ministry, while speaking at a press conference at her ministry Tuesday, said: “After completion of the trial SIM registration, the original SIM registration with biometric identification would begin on December 16 this year.”
Earlier, the trial SIM registration was expected to start on November 1.
“All biometric SIM registration processes are to be completed by March next year; otherwise, mobile operators must face a $50 penalty for each unverified SIM,” the junior minister also said.
Take a look: Trial biometric SIM registration begins today
After meeting with all mobile operator CEOs on September 10, Tarana Halim issued directives to all mobile phone operators to start the process of SIM re-registration from September 13.
The state minister added that users would get three months’ time to re-register their SIM cards, after which all unregistered SIMs would be blocked.
She said the Telecommunications Division is monitoring the update of the SIM registration process every day.
According to the latest BTRC statistics, there are 13.14 crore active mobile phone subscribers in Bangladesh.
