Faceless no more

New Delhi, July 23: The Cellular Operators Association of India, which represents the GSM service providers, has informed the department of telecommunications that it is ready to carry out physical verification of 10 per cent of prepaid subscribers on a stratified basis by December 31, and ensure 100 per cent documentation requirements of the existing subscriber base by March 31, 2007.

The formal letter was sent to DoT on Friday on behalf of cellular players, including Bharat Sanchar Nigam, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam, Bharti Airtel, Hutch, Idea Cellular, Spice, Aircel and Reliance Telecom.

The move, which has to be undertaken due to security reasons, will entail more paperwork for mobile phone subscribers.

?Each operator will re-verify his existing subscriber base by carrying out a physical verification of 10 per cent of the existing prepaid subscriber base on the basis of stratified samples by December 31, and ensure 100 per cent documentation requirements of the existing subscriber base by March 31, 2007,? COAI director general T.V. Ramachandran wrote in his letter to the department.

The COAI has further proposed that each operator would ensure each applicant submits a subscriber application form, photograph, a proof of identity and a proof of address. The industry forum promises to cross-check the details provided in the form with the details given in the supporting documents submitted by the applicant.

The letter further suggests that no pre-activated cards or handsets will be available in the market until it is ensured that 100 per cent documentation has been submitted by the applicant.

Tatas had earlier suggested a 100 per cent verification of prepaid subscribers by 2006. However, Bharti?s Sunil Mittal retorted back saying this would stifle telecom growth.

Earlier, Mittal said with over 23 million subscribers, it does not make sense for Bharti Airtel to verify every subscriber at a cost that could go up to Rs 100 per subscriber. Mittal had said verification of a 10 per cent sample is enough.

The Tatas, however, had contended that telecom companies should not wash their hands of security issues and also said operators tend to inflate the number of subscribers in order to secure greater quantity of spectrum, as the DoT policy of spectrum allocation was linked to the subscriber base.

Concerned over issues of negligence on the part of service providers for overlooking subscriber verification at the time of issuing a new connection, the DoT had sought explanation from operators on why the guidelines were not being followed.

The DoT had recently celebrated the 100-million mark of mobile subscribers. The ministry of home affairs had also asked the department to ensure that proper subscriber verification be carried out by all operators.