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Recently, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s (PTA) teams conducted raids all over the country in order to take action against the illegal sale/purchase of mobile SIMs. According to PTA rules, no mobile connection can be operative until the SIM is not registered in the name of the user. The mobile shop owner, retailer or anyone who sells a SIM, should be authorized/licensed to do so and is bound to get a photocopy of the CNIC of the purchaser and get the cellular service agreement form filled by the customer. Although PTA has framed rules for the operation of mobile services, it is a general observation that these have never been followed and the retail shops and customers do not abide by them. Anyone can buy a SIM without entering into legal contract with the company and this is the reason no number is traceable. The PTA has also allowed any citizen to get up to a maximum of 10 SIMs in one name, although most people hesitate to get more than one connection in their name. This illegal practice has hindered the compiling of data of mobile users. So in order to crack down on this unlawful business, the PTA has started raiding markets, shops, stalls, mobile vans, etc. and a number of illegal SIMs have been recovered and those involved have been arrested.

The use of cellular phones has gained momentum during the last seven/eight years very rapidly. This is not only the case in Pakistan but worldwide too. How quickly Pakistanis took to this modern technology, can be corroborated by the fact that during the past 7 years, users of mobile phones have increased by 75 million and this is a record, i.e. every year, one crore (10 million) mobile users are increasing in Pakistan. Telecommunication experts are of the view that the raise in growth of mobile users in Pakistan has no example in any country of the world. This is the reason that the telecommunication industry in Pakistan has progressed remarkably during the last one decade. The foreign investment in this sector is much more than in any other sector. According to statistics of PTA, which is responsible for regulating the mobile phone operators, the number of mobile phone users is increasing rapidly, alarmingly and illegally, so to control the unchecked growth, the ongoing exercise of raiding shops was necessary.
According to official statistics, about 56 percent of the total population of the country is using mobile phones. The experts and officials in PTA are of the view that although the statistics of the customers provided by the concerned mobile phone operators are apparently correct but there are a lot of such mobile numbers which are not in use and hence have been closed. If statistics of such numbers of all the companies are maintained, it would be revealed that there are almost 80 lac to 1 crore. Besides, there are also such numbers whose SIMs have been sold but the customers have not so far activated them, hence the actual number of activated connections is less than what is claimed by the companies.
According to a survey, about 20 percent of users change their mobile set three times a year while there is a wide variety of casings and mobile covers/pouches. It is especially the practice of youngsters that after purchasing a new set, they change its casing. There are two reasons for this: first, to use a casing of their taste and choice; and second, to avoid scratches or stains on the genuine one. This act helps them at the time of changing their set as after putting on the genuine casing, the set has a reasonable resale value. Besides making and receiving calls on their mobile sets, mobile users have also become accustomed to sending and receiving messages on their sets. SMS (Short Message Service) has become the most powerful source of communication/media in the country and mobile phone and wireless telephone companies are offering competitive packages of SMS.
Indeed, it is a good sign that the use of mobile phones is growing rapidly in the country and people belonging to the lower classes are also using it. Not only is the acquisition of a connection easier and cheaper, but the call rates are also affordable for the common man. In big cities, especially, there is not a single household where at least one mobile phone is not in use. In fact, in most homes, the number of people, irrespective of their sex and age, is equal to the number of mobile phones. Now, people do not ask for a landline number from their friends, colleagues, relatives or others but instead ask for their cell number and it is assumed that the answer would not be in the negative. Now, you can call a vendor, plumber, electrician, green grocer, milkman, washer man, gardener, sweeper, and even sanitary worker through their cell number. In most offices, the bosses, instead of using the office bell, use the mobile phone to call their messenger/office boy as, by doing so, the latter is accessible even if he is out of the range of the office.
It seems that the use of mobile phones has gradually become a necessity instead of a luxury. But sometimes, its use and different ringing tones become a nuisance for the owner as well as for people in the surroundings. In religious places like mosques, imambargahs, etc. it is clearly written that mobiles should be switched off but people either forget or intentionally do not pay heed towards the request and, as a result, the ringing tones (mostly set on music or songs) start buzzing when a Namaz or Majlis is going on. In official meetings, the ringing of mobile phones is considered against the decorum of a meeting but the violation continues. Besides official and high level meetings, the ringing of the bell in personal and private meetings does not seem any better. In classrooms, students will receive calls, disturbing the whole class and the teacher. In examination halls, the negative use of mobiles is also employed, especially for solving objective type questions, whereas the service of “dictation” of long answers to questions from outside the hall is also used.
According to experts, the unnecessary issuing of connections has multiplied the problems of the masses. Particularly the sale of unregistered SIMs has caused unscrupulous and obnoxious calls and other antisocial and harmful activities. Most heinous crimes, including kidnapping for ransom, bank dacoities, blackmailing, fake love affairs, etc. have been committed through unregistered mobile connections. On all such complaints and to control the violation of the telecommunication act, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has now taken stern measures and has started raiding retail shops, stalls, etc. to recover illegal SIMs and to stop breach of sale contracts of mobile connections. If the PTA is successful in its mission and manages to regulate the business, then it is expected that the actual statistics of mobile users would be available in the near future.
After the campaign of the PTA, the illegal sale of mobile connections has, to some extent, been affected. The mobile phone operators observe that the rapid sale of connections has been slowed down as registration, documentation, paper work, provision of copy of Computerized National Identity Card, etc. confuses a retail shopkeeper as well as the customers, most of whom are youngsters who either do not have documents or cannot provide all the information, and hence the deal remains incomplete. A quick glance at today’s figures, i.e. 75 million mobile connections, shows that 75 million mobile sets are being used in the country. As the mobile sets are not manufactured indigenously and are imported from abroad, a huge amount of money is being transferred to foreign countries. According to official statistics, about 600 million rupees per month are being spent on the purchase of mobile sets from abroad. It is also alarming to note that none of the major mobile phone companies have even opened or started a production unit in Pakistan, and there is no plan in the works for the foreseeable future either. In the recent budget, the government has also imposed a tax of Rs. 500 per set which has affected the consumer price of a mobile set. If mobile phones were to be manufactured in the country, then the prices would definitely come down, otherwise the access to a set for a common man would be difficult. The business of used sets has given rise to mobile snatching and street crime. The prices of new sets should be minimum and affordable for poor people to discourage the business of used mobile sets. This will automatically reduce street crime rates.