All Lines Are Busy in Aizawl

Aizawl, Jan 19 : With the last date for re-verification of connections closing in, prepaid mobile phone users in the state capital are on a hectic schedule since the last few days.

There are long queues at every passport size photo shops, xerox shops and outlets of mobile phone service providers in the city.

The prepaid mobile phone users may end up losing their connections on Wednesday if they fail to re-verify the details as per revised guidelines by the Department of Telecommunication (DoT).

Four copies of passport size photos, xeroxed copies of voter ID card or any other proof of identity are required to get one's connection re-verified.

''I've been busy from dawn to dusk since the last three days taking passport size photos,'' said Rama, a photographer at Chanmari.

Equally busy is a xerox shop next to the photographer, whose machine keeps rolling all day.

Some unscrupulous photographers have hiked their rates to Rs 100 per four copies of passport size photos taking advantage of the situation.

''I took my own photo with my camera and set it in passport size form to get it printed in a photo shop. The normal rate of that is Rs 8 to Rs 10, but the shop owner asked me Rs 80,'' said a disgruntled customer.

Given the rush, many mobile phone users, especially those in the remote areas where there are no franchisees, are likely to lose their connections.

''I did not get any prior information about this. Now there's no time to go back to my village and get my voter's ID card. I am going to lose my connection,'' said a worried mobile phone user.

More than half the population of the tiny north-eastern Indian state of Mizoram is now using a mobile telephone, according to a survey.

The Mizoram state economic survey in January 2010 indicated there were 561,917 mobile phone users in the state - which has a population of about one million people - and the figures might have gone up since then.

The survey said Mizoram's mobile phone users currently pay a total monthly bill of Rs 5 crores.

All Indian mobile networks are doing roaring business in the state, where the government is the biggest employer.

Airtel is the largest service provider in the state with 192,000 subscribers in January 2010, followed by BSNL, Aircel, and Vodafone.