The government may have to ban prepaid mobile telephones for a while in the Kashmir valley because of security considerations if people do not switch over to postpaid connections, home minister P Chidambaram today said.

There was a vast distinction from security point of view between prepaid and postpaid cell phone connections, he told a press conference here.

"I urge everyone to switch over to post-paid mobile connections. We may have to ban the use of prepaid connection for a while in the Kashmir valley if people do not switch over to postpaid," he said when asked why prepaid connections were not operational in the valley.