Telcos to make pronouncement on SIM listing as deadline nears

Mobile Network Operators (MNO) are contemplating extending the ongoing SIM Card registration ahead of the midnight deadline.

The Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) is consulting with the MNOs including Safaricom, Airtel and Telkom with a view to extending the exercise.

The authority’s Director General Ezra Chiloba and the MNO’s bosses held a meeting on Thursday to decide on the way forward as many Kenyans are yet to beat the deadline.

“It is the responsibility of the operators who will advise on whether to switch off the unregistered lines or probably give an extension and allow as many Kenyans as possible to register,” Chiloba said.

CA has maintained that the exercise is anchored in law citing the 2015 SIM card regulation that mandates the Mobile Network Operators (MNO) to validate the details of their subscribers.

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“The requirement to update subscriber registration details is being done primarily to protect consumers of telecommunication services – who is you and me. Incidences of sim-boxing, financial fraud, kidnapping, terrorism and related crimes prevail in situations of compromised sim card registration processes,” Chiloba said.

According to CA, the exercise is targeting unregistered users whose details have not been captured by the MNO’s.

ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru has however, opposed the move to extend the exercise noting that its implementation is long overdue.

“Let us do the right thing because this registration is what will ensure that we have more security for our citizens,” he said.

Full compliance in the registration exercise is attained once the photo of Identity Cards of subscribers is taken and captured in the MNO’s database.