Stop this sim card mess
Mar 15, 2008
IN Kampala one can buy a mobile phone sim card anywhere on the streets, without identifying himself. This has contributed to a dramatic increase in phone-mediated crime. Someone buys a phone line, uses it for crime, then discards it.
IN Kampala one can buy a mobile phone sim card anywhere on the streets, without identifying himself. This has contributed to a dramatic increase in phone-mediated crime. Someone buys a phone line, uses it for crime, then discards it.
This mess must stop. Why should phone companies allocate lines to someone whose identity is not known? Uganda urgently needs a law that will stop criminals from hiding behind sim cards.
Phone companies should be obliged to keep a record of all their subscribers. Subscribers should be obliged to register using their real names.
The regulation should spell out the personal details that one must register to get a sim card, the age limit and the number of sim cards one can purchase.
The argument by the Uganda Communications Commission that allocation of sim cards cannot be effectively regulated without a national identity card system, does not hold water. Banks have been quite successful in ensuring they open accounts only for people whose identity is known.
Some people will argue that asking them to register their details might infringe on their privacy, but national security is more important.
Mobile phone companies might argue that registration of subscribers would increase their operational costs, but a company’s business interest should not take precedence over public safety. The time to act is now.
This mess must stop. Why should phone companies allocate lines to someone whose identity is not known? Uganda urgently needs a law that will stop criminals from hiding behind sim cards.
Phone companies should be obliged to keep a record of all their subscribers. Subscribers should be obliged to register using their real names.
The regulation should spell out the personal details that one must register to get a sim card, the age limit and the number of sim cards one can purchase.
The argument by the Uganda Communications Commission that allocation of sim cards cannot be effectively regulated without a national identity card system, does not hold water. Banks have been quite successful in ensuring they open accounts only for people whose identity is known.
Some people will argue that asking them to register their details might infringe on their privacy, but national security is more important.
Mobile phone companies might argue that registration of subscribers would increase their operational costs, but a company’s business interest should not take precedence over public safety. The time to act is now.