'Unregistered SIMs will be deactivated permanently'

The subscribers who won’t register their SIM cards with biometric details by April 30, their SIMs will be switched off for a few hours and they will be notified by SMSs to register, said State Minister for Telecoms Tarama Halim.

"If they won’t register their SIM cards after the notice then their ones will be deactivated permanently", she told a media briefing on Sunday after attending a road show arranged by the mobile operator Banglalink.

“Some 40 Facebook pages are spreading propaganda in online against the SIM cards re-registration with biometric details. BNP, Jamaat and the illegal VOIP traders are doing these and social movement will be initiated against them,” she said.  

The six telecom operators of the country have a little more than 13 crore subscribers and among them, a total of five crore and 45 lakh have registered their SIMs with biometric details already, said the state minister.

Telecoms Secretary Faizur Rahman Chowdhury, BTRC Chairman Shahjahan Mahmood, Vice Chairmen Ahsan Habib, Chief Commercial Officer of Banglalink  Shihab Ahmad, among others, were also present at the media briefing.

“The idea of fingerprints being stored is absurd and those opposing the move are enemies of the people and the country. In fact, we want to ensure subscribers' security.” said the BTRC chief.

Alongside the capital city Dhaka, road shows will be arranged seven others divisional cities in a bid to encourage people for biometric registration , said Banglalink’s  Shihab Ahmad.