DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania
At least 656,091 mobile phone
users in Tanzania were locked out on Monday night after they had failed to
register their SIM cards biometrically by the January 20 deadline, an official
said on Tuesday.
In order to register the card biometrically one need to get a National Identification Number (NIN) which is issued by National Identification Authority |
James
Kilaba, the Director General of the Tanzania Communications Regulatory
Authority (TCRA), told state-run Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation that the
locking out of biometrically unregistered phone users' SIM cards will be done
in phases.
Kilaba
said other 318, 950 phone users risked to be locked out in the second phase
after they had failed to register their SIM cards biometrically.
He said:
"We are switching off SIM cards which haven't been biometrically
registered in phases due to technicalities. You cannot just switch off 10
million subscribers at once."
In order to register the card biometrically one need to get a National Identification Number (NIN) which is issued by National Identification Authority (NIDA).
Foreigners living or working in Tanzania have to follow the same procedure to get identification number in order to register their SIM cards instead of using their passports.
According
to the latest figures by TCRA, about 48.8 million SIM cards are in use
throughout the country by mobile telephony subscribers.
However,
only about 28.4 million SIM cards had been registered under the biometric
system by January 19.
On
December 27, last year, Tanzanian President John Magufuli extended the deadline
for biometric registration of phone users' SIM cards for 20 more days beyond
the earlier deadline of December 31 set by the nation's communication watchdog.
Speaking
shortly after he had biometrically registered his SIM card in his native town
of Chato in the northwest region of Geita, Magufuli said the extension was
intended to give chance to people who failed to register on various reasons.
A
statement by the Directorate of Presidential Communication at State House said
the president insisted that there should not be further extension after January
20.
The
registration move was aimed at getting rid of dishonest telephone line users,
controlling cybercrime and protecting Tanzanians against those abusing the
telecom sector.
The
registration of SIM cards is mandatory under the Electronics and Postal
Communications Act of 2010, and under this law it is an offense to sell or
distribute an unregistered SIM card, to use an unregistered SIM card, to fail
to record sale of an SIM card and to provide false information or statement
during registration. - Africa
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