Ignore SIM Registration at Your own Peril | Times of Zambia

ZICTA in in conjunction with three mobile service providers has started SIM registration.

By Godfrey Chitalu? -

ALLIANCE for Democracy and Development -ADD President Charles Milupi has stirred a hornets? nest by doubting the genuineness of the current Subscriber Identification Module -SIM card registration exercise being conducted by Zambia Information Communication Technology Authority ? ZICTA in liaison with the three mobile service providers; MTN, Airtel and Zamtel.

If Milupi was any other ordinary person, he might be excused for fearing that the exercise will provide covert means for government to track its perceived enemies. As a vocal leader of one of Zambia?s well known political party and also a long time parliamentarian, perhaps he could have done some basic research prior to his outbursts.

Not to out rightly dismiss his line of thought, in countries where it has been done, Botswana, Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania and South Africa, SIM card registration has frequently raised suspicion for a number of reasons.

The major one is that most African countries have a long history of interfering with critical voices and would jump at a chance to further squeeze such sentiments by manipulating technology. The lesser one is that nothing is as upsetting to the general citizenry as change. The inherent fear of change can enlist unpredictable and irrational reactions by all human beings across the divide.

Fortunately Zambia?s record in multi party democracy, barring few hiccups, has been a beacon not only to Africa but beyond the waters that surround the land mass. It can be rest assured that our government, recently elected by popular vote has embarked on SIM card registration as part of the global anti crime stance, since that technology is now increasingly being used for fraud, money laundering and other telecom crimes. Zambia surely and literally is not an island and must move with global trends.

One would have expected the opponents of the exercise in populous South Africa and Nigeria to have triumphed but their citizens quickly warmed to the idea and came out en mass to register. The registration of more than 60 million South African SIM card owners is something to be emulated.

Also latest figures from Nigeria?s Communications Commission ? NCC show that it has successfully recorded and uploaded more than 110 million SIM cards to its back-end facility, providing the highest and most credible biometric data ever collected in Africa.

Botswana, whose registration period ran from September 2008 to the December 2009, contended with much criticism but their telecommunication authority stood its grounds and went ahead with the process. It also turned out to be the envy of many an African nation. East African countries are all in various but advanced stages of SIM card registration. Should Zambia remain behind?

It was therefore not surprising that Patriotic Front dismissed sentiments that the registration was laced with a political agenda aimed at incapacitating critics. Although opposition political leaders as their name implies must be seen to oppose, opposing for the sake of opposing is walking a tight rope. Most countries have introduced SIM card registration out of necessity and the well travelled and enlightened opposition leader is fully aware about this latest global craze.

The publicity wing of the ruling party came out guns blazing over the Milupi diatribe by rubbishing his claims on Radio Phoenix?s Let The People Talk programme. In a carefully worded statement made available by Chanda Mfula, the media and publicity director, the ruling party reminded Milupi that SIM card registration was in fact introduced by the former ruling party, MMD in a ministerial statement in Parliament on ?Infrastructure Development and Policy Interventions to Grow the Communications Industry? in November 2010.

The implementation of phase of the November 2010 statement has started with an announcement from the public relations wing of ZICTA.

In compliance with the Information Communication Technologies -ICT Act No.15 of 2009 and the statutory instrument on the registration of electronic communication apparatus No. 65 of 2011, ZICTA announces to all mobile cell phone subscribers in Zambia the commencement of the registration of Subscriber Identity Module ? SIM cards by the three mobile cellular service providers.

?This registration shall apply to each network SIM card on pre and post paid platforms for both existing individual and corporate subscribers including those who acquire new SIM cards.

The media release further said the registration process shall be administered by each mobile service provider for the sake of capturing the following information; name of subscriber, identity card number ? driving licence, national registration card, passport or work permit, physical address, email and serial number of the SIM card. A provision for those below 16 allowed the use of documents for parents or guardians.

It was made clear in the announcement by Chisha Malunda that a cut ? off date for registration of existing SIM cards would be announced in due course and that the public was warned that failure to register after the deadline will result in SIM deactivation.

Geoffrey Bwale, a Chirundu based analyst contends that there is no need to complain about the exercise which is long overdue. ?The move by our government is a step in the right direction to provide a central database that will track all communication and employ intelligence that will monitor organised crime.?

He mentioned that the post September 11 era has put global security and intelligence high on people?s agenda. ?Citizens instead of complaining must be in the forefront to register their cards or ignore it at their own peril.?

Mr Bwale?s sentiments were echoed by educationist Francis Phiri who said the SIM card in a phone is the basis for identification of the caller. ?It is an exercise in futility if the SIM card owners are left to dictate terms by eternally being anonymous. Eroding security at the expense of allowing mobile service providers smile all the way to the banks is not a fair deal. These providers must actually fund the SIM registration by employing thousands of our youth to help in that line.?

Kapiri based Martha Tembo, while welcoming the exercise wondered how the three mobiles service providers will manage the process. ?This is a good job creation opportunity by Airtel, MTN and Zamtel in aid of our impoverished youth.? She called upon the trio to engage part time workers countrywide to increase the number of registrations.

?Yes government in fact should give a short registration time so that when all cards are deactivated the financial base for the three companies will be affected such that they will have no option but to look for ways of registering more card holders.?

Francis Phiri begged to differ saying the exercises went beyond such thinking. ?SIM card registration allows the professional tracking of all subscribers in the process protecting the interests of both current and potential SIM owners from telecom crimes.

Cell phone is arguably the most ubiquitous modern technology that has and will continue shaping our future transactions ? mobile money, banking and utility bills payment are all being done through SIM cards. These cards are not just a means of communication; they are slowly becoming a tool to perpetrate telecom crimes, which must somehow be curtailed?

Mr Phiri argues that the anonymous nature of the unregistered SIM card can bring havoc if left unregistered. As e learning, e commerce and e everything is slowly taking root in our country the importance of the ubiquitous mobile platform cannot be questioned. ?It is no hidden fact that phones have been used by people of shady backgrounds to hide their crimes. All this will come to an end upon completion of the SIM registration exercises.?

Paul Daka another Lusaka resident agreed that registered cards will promote user accountability; knowing that big brother might scoop on you for wrongly using your mobile is enough deterrent for would be offenders. ?SIM card registration promotes user accountability, since telecom companies keep details about all users and can eavesdrop on illegality thereby making it easier to enforce existing legislation. It also provides national security back up, promotes social order and is clearly a pedestal for unchartered technology.?

Willy Simuyandi, wary of the SIM registration move warned mobile service providers to ensure that information collected from subscribers is kept secure, confidential and not laid bare for political machinations. ?I hope citizens; especially politicians won?t be forced to make public amorous and secretive conversations by authorities just to create embarrassing scenarios. There should be a law to explicitly explain the necessity of disclosure of such information?

In countries were SIM registration is already done, disclosure of phone conversations is only done by a court order. An incoming and outgoing call log helps to trace anonymous callers and locate an area from which a call was made via the originating cell phones location. The identity of the caller can then easily be verified from the list of most called numbers.

Mr Simuyandi however agreed that beyond security the SIM registration might be a basis to create biometric data vital for future use. ?We could just transfer data from one server, filter it and upload it into a voters file.?

He is not far from the truth. Other countries like Uganda are collecting much detailed information using a SIM card; fingerprints and photographs, which are then uploaded and embedded to an online profile. In essence a SIM is a vital memory card, which stores all the information on your phone, like pictures, videos, and contact numbers.

Purchaser of new SIM cards could experience delays, as the mobile providers start implementing the registration process. The mobile provider will have to ensure that the buyer completes a specially designed form accurately. Of importance is to know that it will be against the law to activate a new SIM card if the buyer has not provided the needed information.

It is on this note that we should as a nation give the new government the needed support in the chosen venture of registering all our SIM cards. It is unquestionable that at the end of the day the move will assist in combating telecom crimes in our country. Even if SIM card registration is not the only way of combating such crimes, we can only ignore this exercise at our own peril.

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Source: http://www.times.co.zm/?p=11158

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