By next year telecommunication companies are expected to start rolling out registration of their SIM card users.
Since the introduction of mobile phones back in 2006, mobile phone companies have had no record of the subscribers.
The National Information and Communication Authority (NICTA) issued 10 million numbers to mobile phone companies
That is 6 million to Digicel, 2 million to BMobile and 2 million to Telikom however none of these operators has kept a record of their subscribers and it is difficult to catch people who are abusing this system of communicating.
Service providers will be given a grace period of 18 months to register all their users.
Sim cards will automatically be cancelled for users who fail to register themselves.
The mandatory SIM card registration is intended to:
• Help law enforcement agencies identify the mobile phone SIM card owners;
• Track criminals who use phones for illegal activities;
• Curb other negative incidents such as loss of phone through theft, nuisance/hate text messages, fraud, threats and inciting violence; and
• Help service providers (network operators) know their customers better.
NICTA also notes that the introduction of user registration will put a stop to street sales of SIM cards.