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Government extends SIM card registration deadline by a month

Works and Supply Minister Yamfwa Mukanga [1]
Works and Supply Minister Yamfwa Mukanga

GOVERNMENT has extended the SIM card registration exercise by one month following the expiry of the initial deadline yesterday.

Transport, Works, Supply and Communications, Minister Yamfwa Mukanga said during a media briefing in Lusaka today that the SIM registration exercise had been extended from December 31, 2013 to January 31, 2014.

Mr Mukanga attributed the extension to the long queues of people wanting to register their SIM cards as deadline day approached, coupled with those in remote areas whose data could not be captured by midnight today.

“I wish, therefore, on behalf of Government to announce a 30 day extension to this exercise. January 31, 2014 is therefore the final deadline and no further extension will be considered.

“This should be taken as official notification and therefore supersedes the earlier announced phased approach to SIM deactivation,” Mr Mukanga said.

Mr Mukanga said on February 1, 2014 all unregistered SIM cards would be deactivated and removed from the service providers’ systems and thus the deactivation process would not be done in phases as stated earlier.

The Minister also disclosed that as at December 30, 2013, 6.8 million subscribers had registered their SIM cards out of a mobile phone service subscriber base of 10.3 million.

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Comments Disabled To "Government extends SIM card registration deadline by a month"

#1 Comment By Wren On December 31, 2013 @ 6:05 pm

But mine has been deactivated.

#2 Comment By abeenaaa! On December 31, 2013 @ 7:50 pm

you can extend 1 million times, i will never give you my details. maybe after 2016 when a trustworthy government comes in.

#3 Comment By Jay Jay On December 31, 2013 @ 6:55 pm

Like I said a year ago and I say it AGAIN they will never deactivate your SIM cards, this is an OUTDATED exercise its of no benefit to you, any of the advantages they tell you about it can be countered by the network providers as they have the technology.
Zambians need to wake up you are paying top dollar for your tariffs set up by the cartel (networks) yet they providing obsolete technology and services for it. A chain is no stronger than its weakest link stand up and stop this mediocrity and dictatorship. Ask yourselves this why is it that in England which has a higher chance of being attacked by terrorists they never register the “pay-as-you” SIM cards..why? Because the technology is there, they can eavesdrop on any number at a press of a button.
Wake up from docility people!!

#4 Comment By LORD VOLDEMORT (THE DARK LORD) On December 31, 2013 @ 7:01 pm

I knew it and I got it, not yet registered but still calling biatches!!!!

#5 Comment By Africa On December 31, 2013 @ 7:24 pm

Jay jay don’t fool your brothers in England do you buy a sim without an identity.

#6 Comment By Jay Jay On December 31, 2013 @ 7:42 pm

When you have a contract phone you register due to the fact that the brand new phone is provided to you by your network and you have to pay for usage via direct debit through your bank.
For a PAYASGO phone its your own phone all you have to do is simply walk in any shop and buy a SIM card top it up and off you go….simply as that!

#7 Comment By Maverick On December 31, 2013 @ 7:31 pm

I’m not very privy to the arguments advanced by the government and their agency ZICTA for requiring citizens to register their SIM cards. However, the reasons of “security and recovery of lost phones” I’m hearing are bad excuses. Registration of SIM cards alone can’t stop theft of mobile phones and I say that because I know a thing or 2 about mobile communication technology. All the th!ef has to do is remove the SIM card from his st0len mobile phone and throw it in the t0!let and replace it with his.

Perhaps what can have a significant impact on preventing theft of mobile phones is the International Mobile Station Equipment Identity (or IMEI) which is usually a unique number to identify a mobile phone, sometimes called a Serial number…

#8 Comment By Maverick On December 31, 2013 @ 7:33 pm

If the govt was serious, they would be concentrating on establishing a black-list database of st0len ph0nes among the providers. The S.I.M card which identifies the actual subscriber stores an IMSI (or International mobile Subscriber Identity) number, which is used to identify the user and in theory (and in practice) can be transferred to any handset. This govt is using instructions from the Ch!nese d!ctat0rs who are scared of their people d!$$enting views.

#9 Comment By Jay Jay On December 31, 2013 @ 7:52 pm

The networks have the technology to block a phone via IMEI for usage in Zambia making the handset useless moreover for smartphones they can even have the capability of taking a photo of the thief using the phone’s front facing camera.
What type of thief would be stup*d enough to leave a SIM card in a stolen phone, this is an outdated exercise is of no benefit to anybody but the establishment.

#10 Comment By Troy On December 31, 2013 @ 7:58 pm

Kaponya trying to act smart we know pf is a thug club

#11 Comment By Jay Jay On December 31, 2013 @ 8:04 pm

You Zambians wake up from your docility the minute you stop discussing personalities like GBM and start brainstorming bread and butter issues THAT really affect you like your Kenyan colleagues will you wake up. Honestly are you allergic to critical thinking?

WAKE UP!!!

#12 Comment By I Admire Being an OP On December 31, 2013 @ 10:21 pm

Not registering otherwise i wil use my late relatives info

#13 Comment By Jay Jay On December 31, 2013 @ 10:59 pm

Issues that infringe on your liberties receive less comments if this was about useless entity like GBM or Kabimba oh my god…comments would have been flying in left and right. ..and we wonder why we have not moving forward.
Wake up in 2014!!

#14 Comment By Alvinhno On January 1, 2014 @ 2:46 am

Mmm.. there’s nothing wrong for the government to protect its citizen from terrorism. If this is the only way out then i strongly support this corrupt government. Good move Sata and his government.