ISLAMABAD ( ABRAR MUSTAFA )
As per the instruction of Pakistan Telecom Authority, telecom companies have submitted the data regarding those SIMs that were not verified or were discarded by their owners. PTA had previously instructed telecom companies that all SIMs that were either discarded or not verified by their consumers should be stuck from the records. The number of these SIMs is approximately 100 million. Those that were successfully registered against CNICs during the nationwide SIM verification process amount to 135 million.
With the data now uploaded to PMD, consumers will now able to see only those SIMs that were registered through BIO-metric system and link with their CNIC. This has led to a change in consumer base among telecom companies but this change has not been updated on Telecom Authority’s website. This has resulted in a confusion as to who happens to be at the top in telecom market. It seems that Telecom Authority has failed to get the latest facts from the telecom companies.