The “multiple-fingers” biometric verification activity has been started by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) in order to strengthen SIM authentication and combat the problem of unauthorized SIM sales at the franchise level.
According to official sources the use of biometric authentication may lead to a decrease in the issue of unlawful SIM cards by operators, which affects cellular mobile subscriptions.
In Pakistan in September 2022, both the number of cellular users and the teledensity decreased for the second consecutive month. In Pakistan, the number of cellular subscribers fell by 0.61 million to 194.14 million by the end of September from 194.75 million by the end of August 2022.
Cellular mobile’s teledensity dropped from 88.21 percent at the end of August 2022 to 87.98 percent by the end of September. By the end of September, the overall teledensity had dropped from 89.4 percent in August to 89.17 percent. By the end of September 2022, there were 0.75 million more 3G and 4G customers in Pakistan than there were at the end of August 2022 (119.84 million vs. 120.59 million).
According to a senior PTA official, data from telecom indicators shows that in the month of September 2022, Pakistan’s overall number of mobile subscriptions fell from 194.7 million to 194.14 million, or 0.31 percent. On the other hand, September saw a rise in 3G/4G customers (0.63 percent).
One reason for the drop in overall subscriptions might be: PTA To strengthen SIM authentication and combat the problem of illegal SIM sales at the franchise/reseller level, multiple fingers biometric verification activity was started. This activity may lead to a decrease in the issuance of illegal SIMs by operators, which would then lead to a decrease in cellular mobile subscriptions.
