The Re-verification

Posted on | April 7, 2007 |

The March 31 deadline for subscriber re-verification process is past.

DoT had strictly instructed operators to complete the re-verification by March 31. Failure of operators to verify would mean disconnection of the mobile numbers or the operator will face a penalty of Rs 1,000 for each unverified subscriber.

DoT took up the subscriber verification issue after it found out that most of the operators are offering mobile connections without proper documentation and verification. According to the license terms laid by the government, each operator must strictly carry out documentation and physical verification of the subscriber before offering a connection.

TV Ramachandran, director general, COAI, said that the verified status is encouraging but denied revealing the numbers.

However, sources in the industry informed that on the last day of the verification many subscriber accounts could freeze and the numbers could be more than 10 million. Most of the operators are mum on the re-verification status.

Re-verification helps in J&K:

Rattled by the discovery that militants had obtained cellphone SIM cards by faking identities of securitymen, telecom companies have temporarily barred services of over 10,000 subscribers in Kashmir and launched a massive re-verification exercise.

Reliance Communications has completed re-verification of 85 per cent of its entire wireless subscriber base. Its ARPU is expected to increase by 12 per cent as a result of the re-verification exercise, making it one of the top three players in India in terms of ARPU.

In accordance with DoT’s requirements, subscribers that could not be verified at the end of the stipulated period, despite efforts made by the company, have been deactivated. However, the company would continue its re-verification initiatives, and customers submitting the requisite complete documents would be re-activated within 48 hours, it said.

Sources: CIOL, Kashmir Live, ET

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