Dhaka: State Minister for Posts and Telecommunications Tarana Halim on Tuesday said no fingerprint is being stored during the re-registration of SIMs/RIUMs under the biometric system.

‘Rather, the fingerprint is being verified with the NIDs only,’ UNB quoted her as saying while responding to a tabled starred question from M Abdul Wadud (Rajshahi-5) in Parliament.

The process of re-registering SIMs/RIUMs under the biometric system began on December 16 last, she said.

The state minister said the re-registration activities will have to be completed by April 30 and the unregistered SIMs/RIUMs will be disconnected gradually.

Responding to another query from Mahjabin Khaled (Woman Seat-18), Tarana Halim said the government would introduce the 4G mobile phone service within this year.

She mentioned that the government has given approval to five mobile phone operators—Teletalk, Grameenphone, Robi, Banglalink and Airtel to run the service.

Replying to another question from Jatiya Party MP AKM Maidul Islam, the state minister said for introducing 4G networks, a project called ‘Wireless Broadband Network Establishment Project’ is underway.