VietNamNet Bridge – The HCM City Department of Information and Communications has cut off connections for 35,000 prepaid mobile phone subscribers in the city because the service providers failed to collect the needed personal information or provided incorrect information.

A SIM card being inserted in a phone. About 35,000 prepaid mobile phone subscribers in HCM City have been cut off for lack of persional information or incorrect information, violating regulations set by the Ministry Information and Communications. (Photo: VNS)
A recent investigation conducted by the department found that mobile phone service providers and users had not followed the regulations set by the Ministry Information and Communications that took effect two years ago.

Le Manh Ha, deputy chairman of HCM City People's Committee, said the city administration had asked the department to carry out the inspections from October this year, focusing on seven major service providers offering pre-paid mobile phone services in the city.

Though the ministry's Circular No 22 took effect on August 10, 2009, the service providers had ignored the regulation despite being reminded several times by the city administration, the inspection found.

City leaders said that they had to be strict in dealing with this issue, asking the telecom firms to stop providing services to customers that did not provide personal information or provide incorrect information.

Authorities were also planning to penalise the subscribers, officials said.

The subscriber identity module (SIM) cards are sold everywhere in the city, and buyers can easily purchase and use them without registering their personal information with the service providers.

The SIM cards of MobiFone, Vinaphone and Viettel, also called sales promotion SIM, have been very popular recently. Several MobiFone SIM cards are sold at VND38,000 (US$1.8) but the account is credited with VND165,000 ($8).

Most of the service centres of the companies have procedures and facilities to help customers provide personal information whenever they buy a SIM card. However, this is not true of many small shops that sell them.

Nguyen Thi Tu, owner of a mobile phone shop in Tan Phu District, said most agents had gadgets that helped them provide their customers' information to the service providers, so they could create false personal information in order to sell thousands of SIM cards.

According to the ministry's regulation, each cell phone subscriber can register only three numbers.

The regulations were issued after complaints of nuisance calls being made by unregistered phone users.

Viet Nam has more than 96 million cell phone subscribers, 90 per cent of whom use prepaid subscription services.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News