NICTA: No laws on issue of SIMs

By DAVID WAPAR
THE National Information and Communications Technology Authority says there are no laws governing mobile subscriber identity module (SIM) card registration in the country.                                                                            
But enforcement and compliance manager Gabriel Nakau said due to concerns raised recently, the agency was going to adopt a policy on SIM registration similar to that of other countries.
“NICTA is currently doing its research and studies on how jurisdictions in other countries have successfully implemented this SIM registration and what lessons we can learn to develop something for PNG,” he said.                                                               
The idea surfaced recently after a member of parliament called on Digicel and bemobile to have their customers registered following two bomb threats made by an anonymous caller.                                                                                
Nakau said the whole idea could not be achieved overnight as careful consideration should be given to existing customers, new customers, and how they should be treated.                                                                                                                       
He said full registration and monitoring would be an expensive exercise for the operators.                                                                                                                 
“Registration will be a big issue for the mobile operators.
“There has to be something in place and these are some things we have to consider.”
Nakau said the two mobile phone companies in the country had been consulted and a team was studying the possibility of registering SIMs.
-ENDS-