Tuesday, February 24, 2009

SIM Users IN Mauritius To Register

Users of Prepaid Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards in Seychelles will, in the future, have to register their telephones with their providers under a new law that will be passed soon, the Director General of Communications at the Department of Information, Communications and Technology (DICT), Dr George Ah-Thew announced Sunday in the Seychellois capital, Victoria.

Ah-Thew declared on Sunday that some operators already offer their clients the option of voluntarily registering their mobile telephones but added that it has now become imperative to introduce such regulations as people have been using prepaid mobile telephones to commit offences.

Also, Ah-Thew pointed out that the new law will make provision for those people who buy new prepaid starter packs to give their personal information, including their name and addresses. They will also have to bring their ID cards with them so that the providers can verify their details, he stated.

He further stated that all the information will be kept confidentially by the operators.

For his part, Jean Toussaint of the police force indicated that since last year there has been an increase in the number of malicious calls and texts sent by prepaid mobile telephones and that the new regulations will help cut the cost of tracking down unregistered mobile telephone users.

Toussaint further indicated that those persons who refuse to register their telephones by the given time will have them disconnected.

Such regulations are already in force in Mauritius and South Africa, Toussaint declared.

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