1.5m SIMs still unregistered

MORE than 1.5 million mobile phone subscribers, mostly in rural and remote areas, are yet to register their SIM cards, Minister for Communication, Information Technology and Energy Sam Basil says.
He told Parliament yesterday that registration was an integral part of the government’s plan to mitigate cyber-related activities through the use of mobile telecommunications devices.
He said registration was mandatory for PNG.
Basil said mobile telecommunications service providers had been initially given 18 months from July 23, 2016, to Jan 23, 2018, to register their subscribers’ SIM cards. “Reports of data received from mobile network service providers as of January showed that SIM card registrations had risen exponentially in Dec,” Basil said.
He said Telikom PNG Limited has registered 74 per cent of its subscribers, bmobile-Vodafone 62 per cent and Digicel managing only 42 per cent to date.
Basil said 1.5 million active subscribers from the three mobile telecommunication companies were yet to register their cards.
He appreciated and recognised the important role mobile telephone had played over the years in services delivery to the people and the consequences it might have if the service was disconnected from the users and the mobile operators.
Registration deadline was extended in January to the end of this month.