All new SIM card buyers will need to register with a biometric verification system starting Dec 15, according to the latest order of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC).
The move is in line with an NBTC regulation on Oct 31 that ordered all mobile operators to provide a biometric verification system for new prepaid and postpaid mobile SIM cards.
Biometric verification can uniquely identify a person by evaluating one or more distinguishing biological traits.
Unique identifiers include fingerprints, hand geometry, ear lobe geometry, retina and iris patterns, voice waves, DNA and written signatures.
The oldest form of biometric verification is fingerprinting.
Existing mobile users, including buyers of new SIM cards before Dec 15, will be unaffected by the new registration system.
"The commission has already given 45 days for preparation," said NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasith. "That time is enough for operators to deliver all equipment for the new system nationwide."
The existing NBTC registration application, in use since 2015, will be removed once the new system becomes available nationwide on Dec 15, Mr Takorn said.
He insisted that the NBTC does not seek to track customers or violate their personal privacy. On the contrary, the new system is aimed at greater security in mobile services, especially for users of mobile banking as Thailand moves towards a cashless society.
Under the biometric verification system, each new SIM buyer inserts an ID card into the facial recognition scanner or fingerprint reader at the registration location. Card readers will be connected to the mobile phone or PC at the registration location.
For facial recognition, the system will verify the face of the buyer by comparing it with the image derived from the ID card's chip data. The equipment for facial recognition will cost each operator 500 baht per unit.
The fingerprint system is more complex and will cost operators 9,000 baht per unit.
Mr Takorn said the NBTC will let operators choose between facial recognition or fingerprint systems.
The NBTC estimates that 55,000 locations nationwide will have the new system ready on Dec 15, including 50,000 retail dealers, 3,000 franchises and 2,000 operator service shops.
Mr Takorn said the latest roll-out complements the first batch of fingerprint ID machines that the NBTC delivered to the first 30 locations in May.
The first 30 locations were installed in two zones, with the first 25 machines earmarked for three southern provinces: Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat. Each major mobile operator is responsible for five locations. An additional five locations were installed in Bangkok.
The NBTC later found that only 2,000 SIM buyers had registered via the fingerprint system from the 30 locations.
Mr Takorn said that as of September there were 123.3 million mobile subscribers in the country: 49.6 million under Advanced Info Service (AIS), 34.1 million under True Move, 33.8 million under Total Access Communication (DTAC), 1.8 million under TOT and 400,000 under CAT Telecom.
