The 668 Sim Information campaign is playing a vital role in withdrawal of unauthorized registered SIMs. PTA have taken it a step forward, now it is also available on mobile via SMS. Users who wish to check on the SIMs registered against their CNIC can now send their CNIC number (without dash/space) t0 668 and get a prompt reply with details of name of service provider and number of SIMs.
Earlier I mentioned about the Warid overseas SIM information correction help, a similar service is being provided by all other cellular operators. The process is more or less the same for all.
For Telenor check the details here, for Ufone follow this link, Zong customers can get the details from here and Mobilink the details can be found at this link.
Overseas customers must make use of this service and get all their information corrected at the earliest.
PTA is very seriously monitoring the SIM Data Correction process and aims to regularize it, curbing all the misinformation. In order to facilitate mobile users seeking correction in their SIM data, has removed the condition of CNIC copy being provided by the consumers.
A quick recap of the cellular trend watch as of July 2009 shows a total subscriber base of more than 95.5 million as of July 2009. At that time Mobilink and Telenor were leading and month to month subscriber change also showed a consistent increase in subscriber base over the past three months.
With the successful on going SIM Information System 668 campaign, official sources at PTA have revealed that the cellular phone companies have blocked 12.9 million SIMs in two weeks of launch, reported Daily News. Data of around 0.813 million subscribers has been rectified by the relevant mobile phone companies so far, they said while nearly 5 million subscribers have sought verification from the authority so far. PTA officials said that number of blocking of SIM could increase further as the millions of remaining customers will check their SIMs information against their Computerized National Identity Cards (CNIC).
With this it is speculated that the total subscriber base will fall along with reduction in individual operator’s subscribers.
The campaign although a good move by PTA to counter misinformation in data have raised astonishment, concerns and frustration in the customers. Here I am sharing a few comments of consumers at telecompk’s posts on the same earlier this week.
Muhammad Riaz says,
How astonishing to know that 57 SIMs are registered to my CNIC but I have only 2 SIMs of Mobilink. I ask why the phone operator have misused my CNIC. Now no one is paying attention to my request for blocking the SIMs.
Riaz if what you have said is right it has left me astonished too. 57 SIMs on a single CNIC. In this case who takes up the responsibility of misusing CNIC, the franchise or the operator?
On the other hand Zubair Bashir from Norway has a serious concern,
There are a total 31 different company connections on my name which I didn’t know. I used only 3 or 4 of them. I am in Norway, how will I contact customer services.
Zubair could be just one of the many who are abroad and want to know how could they get their data corrected. Many local consumers have also complained about lack of knowledge of the customer service center nearest to them.
Another consumer Muhammad Saeed expresses frustration over not knowing the numbers registered on his CNIC,
I had send a message with my CNIC No. at 668 to know the total numbers of SIMs issued against my name. I was astonished to know that there are 6 Mobilink SIMs registered to my Name. Main jannna chahta hoon keh mari ID par kon kon sa NO. active hain?
This again shows a lack of awareness of the procedure to get the information corrected.
To facilitate, I have played the part social media can play by doing a post on how to get the SIM information corrected and by providing links to addresses of the CSCs/Business Centers but I feel this has to be done on a much larger scale. PTA along with all operators should come up with an TV/Newspaper advertisements to create awareness for the common masses. Advertisement may include knowledge of the procedure to get the SIM information corrected. It may also be helpful for the consumers if CSCs/Business Centers addresses are advertised in local newspapers.
If these steps are taken we are sure to have all the real subscriber base have their information corrected and know their exact count.
As the SIM information and data correction is in full swing these days, I have found out that consumers are checking on their data via SMS and online at PTA website and reporting it in comments on previous post here. Kindly note that if you find out any discrepancy in your SIM information visit the nearest CSCs (customer service center) or business center of the concerned operator and get it fixed.
For convenience, I am sharing links which give addresses of the CSCs/Business Centers of mobile operators in Pakistan.
Have the ID card number? Find the count (how many) of SIMs have been issued for that ID and the corresponding mobile provider. This is courtesy of a new online utility by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA). This Subscriber Identity Module information system was created to address associated risks on security and to ensure subscription regulations in cellular sector. I tested against my NICOP and it gave me the correct result. Try yours today!
More from PTA site:
Every mobile user can know number of SIMs issued against his CNIC with the mobile company name by sending his CNIC number without dashes and spaces to 668 through SMS. Rs.2/- will be charged on each SMS which is inclusive of all taxes. In case of unauthorized numbers against his CNIC number, a consumer can get the data corrected from the concerned mobile operator’s Customer Services Center. The unauthorized SIM owners will be advised to register the SIM in their names within seven days of notification from concerned Customer Services Center otherwise their calling facility will be stopped after thirteen days and the SIM will be completely blocked after seventeen days of that notice. This service will help in further streamlining the data of mobile phone users.
An interesting development in how SIM cards can be used for better data collection and services.
A change in the SIM standard has opened up new opportunities for measuring mobile network performance at the subscribers’ handset.
Mobile network operators (MNOs) have traditionally measured the quality of their networks through techniques such as drive testing, network probing and analysis of engineering data from various network elements. However, to measure true service quality, it is also necessary to evaluate the users’ experience from the handset. Until recently this has not been possible, but some interesting changes in SIM card standards have provided a potential solution to this problem.
Users’ perception of service performance is very much influenced by the performance of their handset. If the performance of the radio aspect of the handset is poor, then events such as loss of access and dropped calls can be wrongly attributed to poor performance of the serving network; MNOs have often, until now, been blind to these issues with network-centric measurement systems.
However, a functionality of SIM cards that enables the recording, storing and forwarding of data relating to all handset activity has now been unlocked by recent changes made to the SIM and (U)SIM Application Toolkit standards by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and Smart Card Application Toolkit standards by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). This relates in particular to the ability of the card to handle the transfer of handset activity data back across the air interface to the host network.
As a result, monitoring solutions based on SIM cards now appear to be gaining traction in the wider industry. With these solutions, MNOs should be able to detect, for example, service-related problems by collecting feedback on call attempts, dropped or blocked calls, call success rate, SDCCH/TCH capacity and handover failure rates in line with existing base-node-probing techniques.
Cross post from Basit Ali’s blog
PTA has recently announced that it plans to launch 3G services in Pakistan very soon. Though no dates or time frame has been given and the word soon remains undefined. According to this news-release, launching 3G services is one of the steps it is taking to keep the upward trends in telecom growth, a sector that is already contributing 2% of the GDP and it is expected that it will grow up to 3% in the coming years.
My question is, that a country with a tele-density of 62%, mobile penetration of 94 million subscribers with a population of around 180 million, can we still expect more subscribers to sign up?
I believe we are already reaching a kind of saturation point. Please consider the following facts before answering my question:
Telenor. This is based on a simple analysis of the net subscriber growth from Dec 2006 to March 2009. This is a long enough period that you can see a clear trend. Mobilink had slight edge in 2007 but after that Telenor was consistently at the top. Note that fast growth and sales of SIMs is not the same as profit. In emerging markets, it is typical to have high growth but low ARPU. Profitability is a factor of other things including CAPEX.
Telenor has cut the capital expense investment sharply in 2009, in light of the economic recession. Regarding Telenor’s growth in Pakistan , the first quarter 2009 results reported have been strong as well.
During conversations about SIM verifications, there has been a consistent demand for a way to find out the phone numbers / SIMs which have been issued against a certain NIC. All the information is in the databases of NADRA and mobile phone companies. It is only a matter of setting up an automated process – with the right security and privacy of course - for consumers.
Now PTA has announced that such a system will be made available in near future. If nothing else, it will keep the text messaging traffic growing.
PTA and mobile industry is also working jointly to introduce a new SMS based system by virtue of which a mobile user can be able to know the number of SIMs working against his/her CNIC by sending a SMS. A similar system is active through which a subscriber sends a blank message to “667” and return message gives antecedents of that particular SIM owner.
Two recent announcements from Gemalto, a digital security company, caught my attention. First was Smart Device Management service offer for devices such as 3G/HSPA USB modem. As USB modems become popular, there is a need to be able to manage them remotely and efficiently.
This universal solution from Gemalto provides a means for operators to conveniently deploy their mobile services on the PC environments of their subscribers, via a 3G/HSPA USB modem, and remotely update them over the mobile broadband internet connection. The SDMC can also deliver automatic USB modem firmware updates in a manner which is completely invisible to the user.
Second item from Gemalto was SIM-Based Windows Live Mobile Instant Messaging to a South American mobile operator. Just recently the SIM-based mobile banking application was a topic of discussion here.
Now if they had a SIM-based solution for catching fraud and spam, it would be great for Pakistan!
SIMs used to be a straightforward purchase — one could get it after a simple exchange of information and 500 Rs. Now it seems that an artificial shortage is being created. Nation writes that there will be a price increaes, perhaps upto 1000 Rs. I hope this is just speculation and things will settle down soon.
In sharp contrast to PTA policy, the cost of mobile phone SIMs is expected to increase from Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 per connection, The Nation learnt on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, it has been observed that most of the outlets of GSM Service providers have halted the sale of new SIM cards for unidentified period on account of profiteering of high margins.
According to reliable sources, franchises of two major mobile cos have blocked the trade of new SIMs as the new PTA policy has already put brakes on sales of fresh SIM cards. It is being anticipated that the telecom business would face tough time in future due to the sharp decline in sales.
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