Deadline extended for phone subscribers to register SIM cards

By Tichaona Sibanda
1 September 2010

The Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ)
has given more time to the country's three mobile phone operators to
register all their subscribers' SIM cards.

Initially, the registration period ran from June to the 31st August. But
Nelson Chamisa, the Minister of Information, Communications and Technology,
told us Wednesday the exercise has been extended to an indefinite date. He
said a new deadline would be established in the coming weeks.

'POTRAZ has decided to extend the deadline on the account of people having
failed to meet the deadline of 31st August.' Chamisa said.

He added that the decision to register SIM cards was reached for security
purposes and for protection of mobile phone consumers and SIM registration
is a growing trend across Africa and the globe. The country's three
networks, Econet, Telecel and Netone, have a combined subscriber base of
about 5,8 million.

'People have been worried and concerned about issues of security, issues of
privacy, secrecy and confidentiality. But when one weighs issues of the
demerits and the merits, using the cost benefit analysis, the advantages
outweigh the disadvantages,' he said.

The Minister explained that the advantages come in the sense that
authorities will be able to trace and track sources of crimes, adding that
people with nothing to hide should not worry.

'For instance, there have been cases where someone calls you, abuses you and
then throws away the SIM card, once registered it becomes easy to track such
people. The mobile phone has lately been used by some people not as a tool
of communication but as a weapon against fellow citizens,' Chamisa said.

He added; 'This is what we are against, the transformation of a mobile phone
as a beautiful gadget or tool of survival into a weapon of deception or
criminality.'
In countries like Nigeria, authorities there have registered 30 million
subscribers while in South Africa and Botswana, the exercise is still
ongoing.

Authorities in some of these countries introduced tough laws where it would
be an offence to sell a SIM card without taking fingerprints and recording
the buyer's name. Also required is an address, mobile number, ID or passport
number and checking their ID book or passport and a bill to confirm their
address.

'In our case, what our network providers require is only proof of a customer's
identity. Given that many people have landlines, it already means the
service providers have their costumers' personal details. It's clear this
law aims to help law enforcement agencies to identify the users of mobile
numbers and track criminals using mobiles for illegal activities,' Chamisa
added.

However, despite the minister's assurances, the registration remains
controversial because not all mobile phone users may be willing or able to
turn over personal information when they purchase a SIM card.

This is because of fears that the personal information collected could be
used for government or security surveillance purposes. Under Zimbabwean
laws, it is a criminal offense to spread falsehoods using a mobile phone,
especially those deemed prejudicial to the state.

This law is enshrined in the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, a
piece of legislation that has largely been criticized by civic organizations
and human rights and media freedom activists.