ISLAMABAD (ABRAR MUSTAFA)
An important meeting is scheduled to take place on Monday in Pakistan Telecom Authority, Islamabad. This meeting will discuss Overseas Pakistani SIMs re-verification issue. More than 0.8 million overseas SIMs are being actively used on international roaming.
According to the SOPs issued by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority there is no possible way through which these SIMs can be re-verified. TelecoAlert.com has officially checked with officials of cellular companies and also with PTA. However there are efforts being made to ensure that the problem is resolved.
For customers that are using Pakistani SIMs abroad it is imperative that they visit the country to physically verify their SIMs or their SIMs will be cancelled. These citizens are using Pakistani SIMs as they offer free incoming SMS on international roaming. Should these Pakistanis fail to get their SIMs re-verified before the deadline they will face cancellation of services.
Cellular companies’ officials have told TelecoAlert.com that they are yet to find a resolute way of getting such customers re-verified. They say that they have submitted proposal for this because million overseas Pakistanis are genuine consumers and their rights should be protected.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority said that it is aware of the issue, however, it is yet to determine a way for international roamers to get their SIMs re-verified.
PTA said that there is small chunk of SIMs that are on international roaming as compared to the ones operating in Pakistan, and authority wanted to address larger issues first considering that time for re-verification is ridiculously short.