The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) of the Government of India has decided to roll back a ban on the issue of new prepaid mobile connections in Jammu and Kashmir, which it had announced in October 2009.
Now, existing prepaid customers can recharge their connections and new connections after a re-verification procedure outlined by the government. The re-verification has been made mandatory for all operators for their existing prepaid and postpaid subscribers, who will have to submit fresh documents of identity.
As per the statement issued by DoT, only one mobile connection (whether prepaid or postpaid) will be allowed per individual. In all, a family will not be allowed more than six mobile connections among its members.
Mobile telephony services were launched in J&K in 2004, eight years after they were launched in the rest of the country, due to security concerns.
Currently, there are five mobile operators in the state – BSNL, Bharti Airtel, Aircel, Vodafone Essar and Idea Cellular. They have a combined subscriber base of 4.4 million as in December 2009.
Government rolls back prepaid ban in J&K
The new CEO, Amit Dey, is planning to secure partnerships with more telecom operators and is also looking at building a suitable B2C market place.
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