With only twelve days to go before the 31st December deadline for the registration of sim cards comes to a close, slightly over half of the number of mobile phone subscribers have had their sim cards registered.
Transport, Communications, Works and Supply Deputy Minister Panji Kaunda told a media briefing in Lusaka today that 5,360,093 SIM cards were registered as at 16th December,2013 out of a total of 10,343,527 mobile phone subscribers in the country as the December month end deadline approaches.
Colonel Kaunda said of the total registered SIM cards, 4,998,267 have been verified.
Colonel Kaunda said it has been agreed with mobile phone service providers that subscribers who will not have their sim cards registered by the December deadline will have certain mobile services suspended until they register.
He said this might include not being able to make calls.
Colonel Kaunda said this will continue until February 2014 when the unregistered sim cards will totally be disconnected.
He added that the December month end deadline still stands for the registration of SIM cards, and has appealed to people who have not registered their Sim cards to do so before 31st December 2013.
He explained that registration of sim cards is for the benefit of the subscribers as this will help in tracking down their devices in the event they lose them.
Meanwhile, Colonel Kaunda said the Road Transport and Safety Agency will intensify road patrols during the festive season and has cautioned against drunk driving.
He has since advised motorists to comply with stipulated traffic rules to avoid spending the festive season in prison.
[QFM]
Illegality is likely to increase and spying will be at its epitome with registration of sim cards. The Zambian government cannot be trusted with phone identities. If carefully reviewed, citizens’ right to privacy has been challenged!
He said this might include not being able to make calls.
these mtn, airtel, cell-z will make losses ayi, because i would rather have no phone than have my identity and privacy in the hands of these minions!
Theres nothing like deadline. No number will be switched off its just a threat
Is theft of mobile phones so high that it has warranted this expensive venture? What is the justification? What if I don’t care if my mobile is stolen because I can easily get another one?
imagine! dark agenda at work!
Its for security reasons. Some us use our phones for internet banking services. Other will soon be using phones for shopping. Mule tandalako use what is happening around the world. Even the people you call baka ponya baliba seem to be more civilised than you. They are implementing this for your own security. Awemweee!
Naimwe ba Kwekwe, I am in Scotland right now and no one has their sim registered, ninshi kwenda kwa shani mulelaanda? if u r going to have security for ecommerce you r better off not having your details kept in some porous saver somewhere at ZICTA where even a simple hacker can download the whole database. hehe lol
What people don’t relies is that a network provider can block a stolen phone for usage in Zambia at the press of a button. Depending on the specification of the phone they can even they can even take a mug shot/photo of the thief.
I registered but still haven’t received any confirmation and been trying to find out but never get a reply
dial *538# on your phone for Airtel
Thank you kci for the info. Just checked mine-shows sim has been registered! God bless you my bro/sis.
#KCI Thank you for your post above giving the code for getting confirmation of SIM registration from Airtel. Can you or anyone please let us know the equivalent code to confirm SIM registration with Zamtel. Thanks.
@kci,
Thanks; it is showing that my phone is registered but they have given me some silly bemba name! Can any one help or I have to go the airtel offices.
@Bandawe. I have been given a lady name. with Lubasi for a Sir name. I am Chewa ( the real Nyau dancers) for God’s Sake
@Eshu, kodi nchomwela?
What a round about way of saying you have extended the deadline to end February 2014.
In any case dont expect to get any way close to the assumed number of 10 million subscribers becuase most people have more than one line and might choose to register only one.
They’re saying Airtel subscribers should dial *538# to confirm if sim is registered. (MTN is *805# and for Zamtel dial *388#). I registered my sim card in April but I’m getting a message that my sim is not yet registered. I think I am not alone in this situation and I foresee a situation where many people will have their numbers deactivated despite having registered.
it is true! i tried registering one of my sim cards as i have three phones, and i received a message that i have not been registered hehe
its better not to have a phone than have my privacy in the hands of these minions!
You may one of those not yet verified.
I remember sometime back, a certain bank in Zambia asked its customers to verify their details or risk their accounts being deactivated/disabled. I filled-in the required forms and dropped them at my branch. Few days before the deadline, I even received a phone call from the head office, the bank official basically read out my details which I had submitted and asked me if they were correct. To my surprise, when I went to get some cash on the ATM, my account was in “disabled mode”. Being a Friday afternoon, leading into the long holidays of Trade Fair show, you can imagine how I was inconvienced. I had to fill in the details again after the long holiday and I was told I could only access my cash after 48 hours and no one from the bank apologised to me.
This is why Zambians are poor. You should have sued this bank and you could have made a fortune. Ask South Africans or the Westerners how one can make money if messed up by big guys (banks and such)!
Fyachabe chabe ifya sim registration. Thy can block or trace me if I come against their wishes just like watchdog. Its ok if thy do it. Expect lots of losess by mobile providers.
Zamtel can take advantage of thi and open up publice phones so that we can make calls thru them lol
Guys! there is nothing wrong with registering your SIM and there is nothing to be afraid of. It just that we are used us as Zambians even our residences are difficult to find. Ati pachimuti chamango being an address of a person. It is just a matter of organisation. In most societies you cannot buy a SIM without an ID or even for example buying alcohol someone needs to have an ID. We have left the jungle now let us accept every other things that come with it. In this country you cannot even buy something on ebay and have it delivered to your home.
u present your ID not submitting your details, no.
lets register the Sim cards and authorities must make sure that unregistered Sim cards are not used. The problem is in Africa everything goes even freedom is mis interpreted mainly because of the way people in authority abuse citizen rights through spaying. where in the develop countries even America do people buy Sim cards the like in African countries its rubbish and if some one don’t know the police in Zambia fail to trace the people who use unregistered cards for crime or they take years,anyone against this just wait until your become a victim of crime through unregistered Sim card you will wish everyone had registered .
…even without registration, once stolen, the cell phone can still be tracked down using serial numbers with help of the service provider…. its just that the current procedure(dealing with the police) is very cumbersome……You end up spending almost the cost of a new phone
they don’t help they ask you a police report and a search warrant which is issued only by a magistrate its pathetic you will be shocked this is Africa even if some one verbally abuse you using unregistered Sim you wont trace him he will just get rid of the Sim that’s all.
Manje imwe a Panji, kumuzi kwanu nikuti?
ati “unaonako muntu alibe kumunzi kwake?” That still cracks me up
mark of the beast..!!!
Not yet my brother. Mark of the beast will be on the right hand or forehead. What we are witnessing might be the beginning of the road to the mark of the beast. So go and register. Refuse only when they say lets put a mark on your face or right hand.
In as much as SIM registration will sort out a lot of mischief among citizens, there is a hidden agenda. I have registered mine but am very suspicious. Whoever they are, they are creating the database for every nation. There are all these deadlines. Sim registration deadlines, Digital Migration dead lines, the NRC will be changed with a bar code on it if I am not mistaken. And they have convincing reason for whatever they do. I don’t know where we are heading to but i suspect that the end won’t be a pleasant one. Someone somewhere is beginning to start controlling us. They deliberately create a problem with a few people and then find a solution for everyone. For the SIM reg, they will say that they are trying to target terrorists but everyone will be included in the surveillance.
i agree with you BBC, i found this thing so strange in the U.S, where everything is bar coded, all phone numbers are registered, once you give someone a phone number they will know what your name is, were you live, the day you were born, were you work, the crimes you have committed, the car you drive…just everything about you. its called “Illuminati” controlling people. now see even in zed its coming there, its going global and since almost everyone has a phone it will be total world control. i agree with you the end is near and wont be fun we need to really open our eyes so that we wont be caught by surprise
True my brother
ZAMTEL registration is inadequate. Only physical paper work is being used and their agents are nowhere to be seen in many tows. I foresee ZAMTEL going under after deactivation of unregistered SIM cards.
Supper! Now you can experience what is now Normal for us! Fones, Internet, never I’ve I ever trusted my conversations to be discreet, even as I blog I know that someone reads everything. Somehow you should all know that so long as you are technologically up to date, Big brother has been on your Tail, it might not be PF but some paranoid government we all know!
People need to wake up and vote with their feet; you do not know how powerful you are. This is all a pointless “big brother is watching” exercise. 12 months ago I warned you people about this exercise and how it would be misused by the ruling party. 12 months ago I told you that nobody’s phone would be switched off by these networks as that would like turning off their revenue streams. ..nothing is going to happen you people are only as strong as your weakest link. There is absolutely no need to register your SIM its of no benefit to you only benefits the security wings.
Applications are usually approved same day and looking for an easy solution for those who need a little boost,” according to theFact SheetBecause they cannot repay the loan. So On mortgages on credit cards and whatnot, so they usually will either get cash in as little as possible in order to help both the environment and their own pockets.
MORE LOSES. BALAISALA MTN AND AIRTEL. WE SHALL SEE. THIS GOVT LOVES MONEY FOR KASEBANYA’S TRIPS. THEY WILL DO NOTHING. KENNETH KAUNDA’S TACTICS AT WORK.
TWALAMONA!
People now you should open your eyes wide..i actually thought this sim registration thing will just end up here in the u.s, but there you go its coming home too. and guess what they do with the registered sims here, its a form of controlling people were they will now know who you are, know were your were bouts , know where you live even know all about how much you have and get paid…and since now almost everyone cannot live without a phone we will all be in the hands of these governments controlling every move we make..now imagine if one evil president came into power with all these powers to control you? open your eyes, we are drawing close to the end
That is right @the master, we are in for a big surprise and shock in the end. You remember the way Hitler started. He would make a peace deal and break it a few months later and managed to conquer Europe. But now, they are trying to use technology to unite us and then later an evil leader will rise such that all over us will be check mated. No where to go. No place to hide. Satellites are already in place in the skies to scan the whole world. They are coming peacefully in the name of unity, global village by means of technology. I hear there are even plans to eliminate cash and use the chip for financial transaction. We have phones now to make financial transactions. Later it will be from phones to chipping on the body as technology advances. If cash is eliminated, guess how it will be.