Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Saturday, May 06, 2006
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Saturday, May 06, 2006 |
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Info-Tech
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Telecommunications Government - Security Cell operators to crack whip on retailers Our Bureau
Getting tough Effort to blacklist retailers seen as move to soften up DoT. No operator to do business with blacklisted retailer. Industry to conduct countrywide self-audit. Steps initiated to create public awareness.
New Delhi , May 5 Under fire from the Department of Telecom for not adhering to proper subscriber verification, cellular operators have decided to blacklist all retailers, which are not following the set procedures before enrolling a customer. The mobile operators under the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) and Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India have come together to form the Apex Council for Telecom (ACT) to initiate similar measures in a bid to clamp down on irregularities in subscriber verification. "To address this concern of the Government and National Security Agencies, the entire mobile industry has come together through COAI and AUSPI on a common platform to set up the Apex Advisory Council for Telecom in India (ACT) to oversee and ensure that proper subscriber verification process is followed. ACT has laid down a 4-stage process to be followed before activation of a new mobile connection which has been implemented from April 24," said a press release.
DoT letter
The Department of Telecom had shot off a missive to all operators asking them to strictly adhere to the subscriber verification norms. DoT said that the security agencies were finding it difficult to track subscribers because the norms were not being followed. DoT has called for a meeting on May 8 to discuss the issue with the operators. The announcement by ACT is being seen as a pre-emptive move to soften up DoT before the meeting. The decision to blacklist the retailers was taken at a meeting on May 4, which was attended by all the cellular operators, both GSM and CDMA. Once a retailer is blacklisted, no operator would engage him for business in future.
Independent audits
"Operators are taking vigorous steps to create awareness of the process through direct mailers, personal interaction with the distribution channels, advertisements in print media. ACT, on its part, has undertaken to carry out independent audits to assess compliance with the process. The audit carried out by ACT has revealed a couple of instances in Delhi where the retailers have not followed the required process. ACT will continue to monitor the implementation and compliance of the process and will soon carry out nationwide audits in this regard," said a release.
Related Stories: More Stories on : Telecommunications | Security
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