‘No phones to be blocked for 90 days’

Staff Reporter :

Faiz Ahmed Taiyeb, special assistant to the chief adviser for Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, has assured the public that no mobile handset will be blocked for 90 days following the launch of the National Equipment Identity Register (NEIR), urging users not to panic.

His assurance comes as many users face difficulties accessing the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission’s (BTRC) NEIR portal shortly after it went live. Acknowledging the issues, Taiyeb said such technical problems were expected in the initial phase.

In a statement issued on Friday, he said telecom operators have uploaded more than three billion datasets, including historical records, which is why many users are seeing an unusually high number of SIMs or handsets linked to their NIDs.

He said BTRC and operators are jointly working to archive historical data so that only active devices are shown.
Taiyeb thanked users for reporting errors, noting that early-stage technical glitches are common.

He added that while a VAPT was conducted earlier, a fresh security test has been ordered. He also clarified that NEIR was first attempted in 2021 and has now been activated with added features.

Explaining discrepancies, he said past SIM limits—once as high as 20 per NID—are contributing to the inflated numbers. Taiyeb added that NEIR will help citizens verify device registrations and identify links to financial crimes.
He assured that data security measures are in place and sought patience as issues are resolved.
Many users, meanwhile, continue to report access failures and data inconsistencies on the NEIR portal, which Taiyeb said will be fixed soon as system load stabilises.