Junk SIMs are still rampant before G-hour

On May 31, the business of prepaid, cheap, pre-activated SIM cards at many agents was still bustling, despite the Ministry of Information and Communications' regulation banning the sale of the above products taking effect from June 1.

This morning, on many streets in Hanoi such as Nguyen Thai Hoc, Cau Giay, Kim Ma, Dai La..., cheap sim cards with large accounts are still bustling with buyers and sellers. Among them, mobile numbers from the 3 major networks MobiFone, Viettel and VinaPhone are the most chosen by customers. Most of them are prepaid sim cards, activated and registered with information in advance.

Mr. Nguyen Duc Manh, a businessman on Kim Ma Street, said that to get a big account for the sim, the merchants have to keep the promotion for a period of time. As soon as the kit is opened, Mr. Manh has to register information to keep the sim, avoiding its revocation. "The normal activation only has 80,000 VND available, no one wants to buy that type, while cheap sims with big accounts are easy to sell, not many people care whose name they are," Mr. Manh said.

This business owner said that he knew about the regulation banning the sale of pre-activated prepaid SIM cards issued by the Ministry of Information and Communications, which took effect on June 1. However, he has no intention of stopping his business. According to Mr. Manh, the numbers that have been "raised" and imported cannot be "shelved", especially when customer demand still exists.

The price of pre-activated prepaid SIM cards on the market has not decreased either. Specifically, MobiFone and Viettel SIM cards cost 45,000 VND, with 110,000 VND in the account; VinaPhone SIM cards cost 65,000 VND, with 180,000 VND in the account; 90,000 VND, with 260,000 VND in the account...

According to Mr. Nguyen Duc Manh, there is currently no dumping of goods. "The key is that there is still demand from buyers, so selling off inventory is not too difficult," he said.

Meanwhile, Mr. Ngo Van Thanh, a SIM card dealer in Cau Giay, is both selling and exploring. He confided that for now, he will sell prepaid, pre-activated SIM cards with huge accounts until the end of today. If the regulations prohibiting the circulation of that type of SIM card are tightened, he will comply with the circular.

"If all agents comply, I will follow suit. But I'm afraid that some are strict and others are lax, which will be unfair to business people," said Mr. Thanh.

On June 1, prepaid mobile subscribers will be tightened. Illustration: Kien Cuong.

In Ho Chi Minh City, a similar situation also occurred. While advising customers to buy prepaid SIM cards, the owner of a SIM card shop on 3/2 Street, District 10 said: "You guys should buy quickly, this SIM card is already activated, maybe from tomorrow the price of the SIM card will increase, they will manage it much more strictly."

This owner also complained that she was holding thousands of pre-activated SIM cards, so she didn't know what would happen tomorrow, and the SIM card dealers were also on edge. The price of a prepaid SIM card registered with Mobifone here is 45,000 VND, and the account is 100,000 VND.

Similarly, the owner of a SIM card shop on Nguyen Thuong Hien Street, District 3, told a customer who came to buy a Viettel SIM card worth 25,000 VND and an account of 50,000 VND: "I have registered all of these, you can just plug them into your phone and use them normally." Continuing to explain, the owner of this shop told the customer that the information about banning the sale of pre-activated SIM cards published in the press was incorrect. "I still sell normally, no one said anything, don't listen to nonsense information," the shop owner explained.

A representative of the Post and Telecommunications Department of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Information and Communications confirmed that tomorrow, June 1, according to the new circular, agents who want to activate a new SIM card must send a copy of the customer's ID card to the business for comparison, at which time the SIM card will be activated.

"Unlike before, agents only needed to text, send the name, address... of the customer buying the SIM to the network operator to easily activate the prepaid SIM, tomorrow the activation of new SIM will be managed more strictly. This must be done from the root, from the network operators," said the Department representative.

Speaking to reporters, a representative of VinaPhone said that, in accordance with the regulations of the Ministry of Information and Communications and to ensure customer rights, the network has sent messages to all subscribers with potentially incorrect information, requesting them to check and re-register. Through the agent system, this telecommunications company conducts strict control over new customers.

"Partners who violate the Ministry's regulations will be punished. Since 2008, we have terminated contracts with more than 17,200 violating agents," said a VinaPhone leader.

Circular No. 4 of the Ministry of Information and Communications on the management of prepaid mobile subscribers requires: to stop the sale and circulation of prepaid SIM cards that have been activated without or have been registered but not according to regulations. In addition, the Ministry strictly prohibits the use of multi-function SIM cards to register subscriber information. In addition, users are not allowed to use other people's ID cards or passports to register for themselves and vice versa. The person who is transferred ownership of the SIM card must re-register personal information within 10 days. This regulation is implemented from June 1.

According to Express - H