Bangladesh Telecomm-unication Regulatory Com-mission (BTRC) is going to take punitive action against state-owned mobile operator Teletalk for allegedly selling pre-activated SIM cards at Rangpur customer care using fake identities.
A SIM is activated following verification of identities of the owner. In this case, the SIMs were pre-activated with fake identities before sale.
Earlier in November last year, the telecom regulator sought explanation from Teletalk about the allegation.
"Teletalk replied to our notice and their explanation is not satisfactory," Director General (Spectrum Management) of BTRC Md Nasim Parvez told the FE.
He said now the commission will fine the operator.
On November 05 and 06 last year, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) unearthed a criminal ring based in Rangpur and arrested three persons including Rangpur Teletalk customer care's supervisor Ahmed Jahid Anwar (30).
The criminals were found copying information about biometric registered persons directly from the database while SIM cards were being sold. Then they registered multiple SIMs with the same information.
While CID seized some 1,172 pre-activated SIM cards from their possession, the number of such SIMs is believed to be higher.
After two days, BTRC Spectrum Management Department sent a letter to Teletalk, seeking explanation about how these SIM cards were being sold using fake identities and fingerprints.
Mr Parvez told the FE that Teletalk doesn't have any server to preserve fingerprints. "It is not possible to steal ID and biometric information from Teletalk server," he said.
BTRC will only fine Teletalk, but police will deal with this case, he added.
According to BTRC, Teletalk will be fined Tk 4,000 for selling SIM cards each with fake identities.
Mr Parvez said BTRC's legal division is now preparing for the legal action against the state-owned mobile operator.
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