Swazi Observer

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CELL-PHONE USERS WILL SOON BE COMPELLED TO REGISTER SIM CARDS

By Majaha Nkonyane | 2018-03-15

CELLPHONE owners who use prepaid cards will soon be compelled to register their SIM cards with their respective service providers.

Consumers have been all along buying prepaid or ‘Pay As You Go’ cards from retail outlets or from vendors with no paperwork involved.

This new compulsory requirement will soon be rolled out by the Swaziland Communications Commission (SCCOM).

This was disclosed by SCCOM Chief Executive Officer Mvilawemphi Dlamini during the closing of the very first annual ICT stakeholder forum held on Tuesday at the Royal Villas in Ezulwini.

“We have been working behind the scenes for quite sometime now, but we will be launching the project shortly and everyone will be expected to register their SIM cards,” he said.

He said mobile operators who will fail to comply will be fined.

The issue of SIM card registration was first mentioned by Swazi Mobile Chief Technical Officer Wandile Mntshali.

He made mention that it’s important for mobile customers to know who their customers are as well as understand their expectations.

Mntshali added that it is equally important for the country to align its policies with international standards. “We need to use international standards as a yardstick for our performance,” he said.

SIM card registration is not new to the world of telecommunications and it has been done in different parts of the world.

Meanwhile, SCCOM General Manager Legal and Compliance Ozzie Thakatha affirmed the commission has recorded a number of successes including rolling out licensing registration and the assignment of spectrum.

Going forward, he said the commission would continue to safeguard quality service and create an enabling environment for e-services amongst other things.

“We will continue to promote infrastructure sharing as some parts of the country are still not covered as they don’t make business sense for operators,” he said.

SSCOM seeks to bridge the gap between rural and urban areas.

The commission has established a committee which will use funds contributed by operators to extend services to the less fortunate areas.

Thakatha said the task team had already come up with their plan which is still to be approved by the relevant authorities before it can be implemented.

This initiative is anticipated to provide internet services to rural schools, hospitals and help establish sites where people can go and access internet services.

It is worth noting that mid-2016, the United Nations (UN) declared internet access a basic human right and that disconnecting people from the internet is a human rights violation and against international law.

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