To prevent fraud, PTA has used “Multiple-Finger” biometric verification.
To prevent fraud, PTA has used “Multiple-Finger” biometric verification.
According to numerous sources, PTA has chosen to use multiple-finger biometrics rather than just thumb verification. With biometric verification, PTA hopes to increase security, which could lead to a decrease in unlawful SIM issuance by operators, which lowers cellular mobile subscription rates.
The threat and likelihood of fraud also rise with the rising number of mobile sim users and the sims being registered day by day. 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 top PTA official, the number of overall mobile subscribers in Pakistan decreased from 194.7 million to 194.14 million in the month of September 2022, or 0.31 percent, as a result of the multi-finger biometric verification. On the other hand, September saw a rise in 3G/4G customers (0.63 percent). The following are some potential causes for the drop in overall subscriptions:
PTA launched a multi-finger biometric verification initiative to strengthen SIM authentication and combat the problem of illicit SIM sales at the franchise and reseller levels, which may lead to a drop in unlawful SIM issuance by operators and a decline in cellular mobile subscriptions.
About 1/3 of Pakistan’s population was submerged by unprecedented, disastrous floods in three regions, which may have contributed to a drop in SIM sales in September 2022.
The decline in total mobile subscriber growth in August 2022 was similarly negative (0. 26 percent), which may have been brought on by CMOs’ routine recycling and cleaning of SIMS.
Every business is dealing with an increase in 4G customers, while 3G users are steadily declining. The overall number of 3G subscribers on Jazz, arguably the largest and most popular mobile network in Pakistan, fell from 5.653 million at the end of August to 5.456 million at the end of September, a fall of 0.197 million. By the end of September, there were 40.485 million Jazz 4G users, up from 39.965 million at the end of August.
