Nigeria will start requiring prepay SIM cards to have their ownership details registered with the network operators next year. The registration process will start in March 2010 and will last six months, giving users enough time to fill out the paperwork. After the period ends, non-registered SIM cards will be shut out of the mobile networks.
The Head of Consumers Affair at the Nigerian Communications Commission, Lolia Emakpore, said: “The SIM card registration is in line with complaints that the commission had gotten that mobile phones are used to aid crimes and government has instructed the commission to adopt a mode to help stop crime. Nigeria does not have an effective database and that is why we think six months is enough to cover the six geo-political zones in the country and even get to the local government areas.”
However, telecom operators are pessimistic about whether the process will be well conducted. We’ll have to wait and see how this goes…
[Via: CellularNews]