Guwahati, Feb. 29: Pre-paid mobile phone service is set to make a comeback in Assam and the other northeastern states after communication minister Arun Shourie promised to take up the matter with the Union home ministry.
The Centre?s assurance came after cellphone users, including those running the governments of Assam and Meghalaya, protested against the withdrawal of the pre-paid facility by Reliance Telecom Ltd, the only service provider in Guwahati and Shillong.
Speaking at the launch of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd?s (BSNL) CellOne mobile service here today, chief general manager of Assam telecom circle B.K. Sinha said the pre-paid system was in great demand but had to be scrapped for security considerations following directives from the home ministry.
?We have apprised our minister and he has assured us that he would discuss the issue with the ministry concerned. Hopefully, the pre-paid system will be restored soon,? he added.
The home ministry had argued that the pre-paid facility was aiding the militants because there were loopholes in the system regarding the user?s identity and address.
The move was initiated after a directive issued by the ministry of telecommunications on October 23 last year.
The withdrawal put Reliance Telecom Ltd in a tight spot as the company was charged with exploitation. The standoff between the company and the National Students Union of India, the Congress? student wing, still continues.
The Assam government had taken strong exception to the home ministry?s directive. In a letter to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, chief minister Tarun Gogoi said the home ministry?s decision, which was tantamount to signalling the outside world that Assam was still not a safe place, would act as a deterrent to the state?s economic growth.
The BSNL?s CellOne launch was a token affair because only 10 SIM cards were distributed. Sinha said it has no option as the date of launch, earlier slated for March 10, was suddenly advanced and ?bulk activation? was not possible within a short notice.
He said all district headquarters, highways and railway routes would come under the mobile blanket by March 25. ?Though we are going to give 45,000 connections in this phase, an additional 1,00,000 connections would be provided by June.?
Gauhati University vice-chancellor G.N. Talukdar opened the service with a mobile-to-mobile t?te-?-t?te with N.K. Mangla, director of the BSNL board in New Delhi.