Bangkok – The Office of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) inspected the new SIM card registration process in Mega Bangna shopping complex in Bangkok last week.
The registration process is now required to use the new biometric identification system that records facial features and fingerprints of SIM card owners, regardless of their mobile service providers.
According to NBTC Deputy Secretary-General Korkij Danchaivichit, the new registration method was put in place on February 1. Customers who wish to register a new SIM card can bring only their ID card to a service center of their preferred mobile network operators or any of their 50,000 sales representatives nationwide. All of the major carriers – AIS, DTAC, TRUE, TOT and CAT – are reportedly ready to adopt the new method.
The new biometric identification system is claimed to protect SIM card holders from identity theft and prevent SIM cards from duplicate registration. Mobile network operators will scan faces or fingerprints of their customers when registering a new SIM card. Users’ data will be kept confidential, in accordance with the nation’s law on information technology, which disallows the operators to keep customers’ information at their service centers.
