As the registration deadline deadline approaches, Chiloba turns off 124k sim cards.
By the end of March 2022, 124,000 sim cards were deactivated, according to Ezra Chiloba, director-general of the Kenyan Communications Authority. According to the authorities, individuals who were most negatively impacted were those who obtained their sim cards illegally, while others did not fulfill the minimal conditions established by the government to be eligible to hold a sim card.
The authority revealed in a report dated June 23 that 124,000 sim card owners had not updated their registration information in accordance with the 2015 SIM Card Registration Regulations.
SIM card registration regulations.
The initiative, according to the article, was designed to guarantee complete compliance with the SIM Card Registration Regulations, which, among other things, compel operators to keep a copy of each subscriber’s identity documents.
Subscribers have until October 15, 2022, to change their registration information. According to the Chiloba-led Commission, the action is intended to reduce the usage of SIM cards for illegal activities.
According to the quarterly report for the three months ending in March, there were 64.9 million active SIM cards, down from 65.1 million in the previous quarter, a decrease of 124,689 cards.
Part of the report states that:
“the reduction in SIM subscriptions is related to the ongoing SIM registration operation, during which a number of SIM cards have been cancelled.”
Due to the country’s population statistics being revised from 48.7 million to 49.4 million according to the Economic Survey 2022, the authority’s legislation also caused a 2.5 percentage point decline in mobile penetration to 131.4%.
The report added:
“The report shows that 60.1 million mobile phone devices were connected to mobile networks as of 31st March 2022, out of which 26.5 million were smartphones while 33.6 million were feature phones. Subsequently pushing their penetration rates now stand at 54.6 per cent and 69.2 per cent respectively computed as a percentage of the total population,”
“Mobile money subscriptions grew to 36.4 million from 35.2 million in the previous quarter, as a result of greater diversification of value proportions by service providers.”
The authorities insisted that as the general election on August 9 draws closer, the internet deployment would be improved.
CA stated:
