Thailand, on the trail of cellphone terrorists
By Nick Cumming-Bruce International Herald Tribune
BANGKOK For years, Thai authorities acted as if international terrorism was someone else's problem, even after bomb attacks in Bali, Jakarta and Manila brutally exposed the threat to the region. Suddenly, the government has changed tack, and mobile phone operators find themselves caught in its new enthusiasm for security.
From May 10, the government wants Thailand's four mobile phone operators to start registering the identity of people buying prepaid SIM cards, the so-called subscriber identity module that identifies a phone to its network. That means collecting data on close to one million people a month.
The impetus for this initiative apparently came from a series of bomb blasts in Thailand's mainly Muslim southern provinces, where security forces face an insurgency. The bombs were mostly detonated by cellphones, Thai authorities say.
Every time a bomb goes off, the government closes down local cellular networks in case the bombers have planted a second device designed to hit security forces or rescue services rushing to the scene of the first.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who built a family-run telecommunications empire, which includes the biggest of Thailand's cellphone operators, says he is confident that registering SIM card holders will solve the problem of bombers using mobile phones.
But the registration idea makes some people who are not crooks or wannabe terrorist bombers unhappy.
Thailand is not the first country to register prepaid customers. Switzerland introduced registration last year after it found that Al Qaeda had members used prepaid Swiss cards to make calls from Pakistan and Afghanistan. Swisscom, the country's leading phone company, was uneasy about the extra work, although it only had to contend with about 1.9 million prepaid subscribers.
In Thailand, where the authorities eventually want all prepaid sub- scribers registered, the number now totals 21.5 million people and is growing at a rate of about 20 percent a year.
The phone companies say they are supportive of the initiative in principle but see a host of potential problems. It is not clear how much data the government wants them to capture or what requirements customers must fulfill.
There are potential legal snags as operators also have legal obligations not to disclose customer information. And there appear to be different views in government about who should hold and maintain the customer data provided.
Nor is it clear what the government wants to do about foreign cellphones roaming around Thailand - whose fees provide a high-margin source of revenue for Thai operators. One report suggests that visitors would have access to roaming only after registering, an inconvenience for business visitors and the more than 10 million tourists visiting Thailand every year.
"I told them if they are going to be tough about that they could scare away tourists and business people because everyone will think we have a war on," said Athuek Asvanund, vice president and group general counsel for True, which operates a mobile phone service under the TA Orange brand.
There are some potential benefits to the operators, telecommunications analysts point out. Companies will get more client data with which to refine their marketing strategies.
Some security experts doubt the move will be helpful. Registration will not stop bombers from using stolen SIM cards or mobile phones or phones from other countries to detonate bombs or from using false identities to buy them. Moreover, although mobile phones are among the more efficient devices for detonating bombs, courtesy of their digital technology and the quality of the network, there are plenty of other handy gadgets that will do the job, including remote garage door openers and family walkie-talkie sets - anything with a wireless signal.
"What they are doing is spending a lot of time and effort doing something that ultimately may be neither useful or effective," said John Wideman, Thailand country manager for the security consultancy ArmorGroup Asia Pacific. "There are just too many ways around it."
BANGKOK For years, Thai authorities acted as if international terrorism was someone else's problem, even after bomb attacks in Bali, Jakarta and Manila brutally exposed the threat to the region. Suddenly, the government has changed tack, and mobile phone operators find themselves caught in its new enthusiasm for security.
From May 10, the government wants Thailand's four mobile phone operators to start registering the identity of people buying prepaid SIM cards, the so-called subscriber identity module that identifies a phone to its network. That means collecting data on close to one million people a month.
The impetus for this initiative apparently came from a series of bomb blasts in Thailand's mainly Muslim southern provinces, where security forces face an insurgency. The bombs were mostly detonated by cellphones, Thai authorities say.
Every time a bomb goes off, the government closes down local cellular networks in case the bombers have planted a second device designed to hit security forces or rescue services rushing to the scene of the first.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who built a family-run telecommunications empire, which includes the biggest of Thailand's cellphone operators, says he is confident that registering SIM card holders will solve the problem of bombers using mobile phones.
But the registration idea makes some people who are not crooks or wannabe terrorist bombers unhappy.
Thailand is not the first country to register prepaid customers. Switzerland introduced registration last year after it found that Al Qaeda had members used prepaid Swiss cards to make calls from Pakistan and Afghanistan. Swisscom, the country's leading phone company, was uneasy about the extra work, although it only had to contend with about 1.9 million prepaid subscribers.
In Thailand, where the authorities eventually want all prepaid sub- scribers registered, the number now totals 21.5 million people and is growing at a rate of about 20 percent a year.
The phone companies say they are supportive of the initiative in principle but see a host of potential problems. It is not clear how much data the government wants them to capture or what requirements customers must fulfill.
There are potential legal snags as operators also have legal obligations not to disclose customer information. And there appear to be different views in government about who should hold and maintain the customer data provided.
Nor is it clear what the government wants to do about foreign cellphones roaming around Thailand - whose fees provide a high-margin source of revenue for Thai operators. One report suggests that visitors would have access to roaming only after registering, an inconvenience for business visitors and the more than 10 million tourists visiting Thailand every year.
"I told them if they are going to be tough about that they could scare away tourists and business people because everyone will think we have a war on," said Athuek Asvanund, vice president and group general counsel for True, which operates a mobile phone service under the TA Orange brand.
There are some potential benefits to the operators, telecommunications analysts point out. Companies will get more client data with which to refine their marketing strategies.
Some security experts doubt the move will be helpful. Registration will not stop bombers from using stolen SIM cards or mobile phones or phones from other countries to detonate bombs or from using false identities to buy them. Moreover, although mobile phones are among the more efficient devices for detonating bombs, courtesy of their digital technology and the quality of the network, there are plenty of other handy gadgets that will do the job, including remote garage door openers and family walkie-talkie sets - anything with a wireless signal.
"What they are doing is spending a lot of time and effort doing something that ultimately may be neither useful or effective," said John Wideman, Thailand country manager for the security consultancy ArmorGroup Asia Pacific. "There are just too many ways around it."
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