SIM card worries

THE benefits of SIM card registration are not conclusive.
Papua New Guinea authorities would have done a better job researching its implications.
The United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, Romania and New Zealand have considered mandating SIM card registration but opted against it. Mexico initiated mandatory SIM card registration in 2009 but revoked it three years later.
It would have been wise to study why a range of countries — from developed to developing countries — decided against it or terminated it after the process failed to deliver desired outcomes.
Rawanda’s mandatory SIM card experimentation resulted in deactivating 485,000 SIM cards after postponing the due date several times.
It would have been wise to know that postponing SIM card registration to Jan 23 does not guarantee that 80 per cent of the rural population in PNG would register.
People of almost similar socio-economic status in Rawanda failed.
There are arrays of SIM registration cases worldwide – mandatory or voluntary – for PNG authorities to conduct an impact assessment and adopt global best practices for SIM card registration.

Michael Kabuni
Port Moresby