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PTA orders closure of six franchises of mobile phone operators

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Saturday directed mobile various phone operators to close six franchises in different cities for bypassing to standard procedure for issuance of SIMs.

The authority has issued the direction in respect of two franchises of Mobilink (Centre Point Gulberg Lahore and Haleem Telecom Al-Haj Plaza Chowk Gulabad, Peshawar), one of Ufone (Zikriya Shopping Centre, Bosan Road Multan), one of Telenor (Circular Road Lahore), one of Warid Telecom (Dar Communication Gari Shahu, Allama Iqbal Road, Lahore) and one franchise of CMPak (Paktel) (Latifabad No 7, Hyderabad).

An official of the PTA said the authority has taken serious view of non-verification of SIMs and has warned of further action against franchises not following set procedures. He said a clear policy has already been devised and issued to mobile operators for verification of subscriber’s antecedents and cleaning of old data.

Two surveys of customer service centers, franchises and retailers of mobile phone operators have been conducted by PTA’s zonal offices located at Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Karachi and Quetta to monitor issuance of new SIMs in line with the instructions of the authority. The official said shortcomings observed on part of the mobile phone operators in the first survey were communicated to the CEOs of mobile companies for corrective action. They were also informed about the possible legal proceedings against those who violate the procedures, he said. Similarly, the second survey conducted in September 2007 has revealed marked improvement in understanding of the procedure by the franchises and their retailers. app

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