Govt To Re-register All SIM Cards

Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, the Minister of Communication and Digitalisation has announced plans by the Government to embark on re-registration of SIM cards from next month.

The move according to Owusu-Ekuful, will help monitor and track down persons who use their phones for criminal activities.

Speaking on Peace Fm, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful said the re-registration which was supposed to have been done last year was put on hold due to the outbreak of the COVID 19 pandemic.

“I made mention that we will embark on the SIM re-registration in October 2019, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we couldn’t go ahead with the exercise, she said.

She added “By June, we will begin the re-registration of SIM card with a valid national ID Card, all the measures have been put in place for the exercise, all the systems are in place. But it was left for us to consult the ID issuing agencies and the agreement is to start with the national ID card.”

Owusu-Ekuful said the government is yet to determine the duration for the exercise in consultation with the various telecommunication operators.

She warned that any SIM card which is not registered will be deactivated after the exercise.

Meanwhile, Owusu-Ekuful has announced plans to introduce a national roaming service in the telecom sector by the end of this year.

According to her, the government is already in talks with the various telecommunication networks for a smooth take-off of the project.

This means mobile subscribers will soon be able to enjoy service from areas where their telecom service providers do not have coverage across the country.

She told Nana Yaa Mensah on The Asaase Breakfast Show on Friday 30 April 2021 that the move will help facilitate other initiatives such as telemedicine across the country.

“Another thing that we are doing is to mandate national roaming, so whether there is a service from your service provider in a particular part of the country or not, just like we roam on other networks.”

SMALL FEE
“You can roam on other networks when you travel to a region, a district or where your network provider is not present for a small fee, which you won’t feel because it will be part of the charges that you pay to your network provider,” she added.

According to her, all the telecom providers have so far pledged their support for the national roaming initiative.

“But there will be a bilateral arrangement between all the players to ensure that the national roaming happens and we are going to do that by the end of this year. I have already told them we are doing this,” Owusu-Ekuful said.

Source: Fred Dzakpata/AsaaseRadio