Kenya’s Communications Authority has extended the registration period for SIM cards by six months.
Kenyans now have till October 15th to have their telecoms firms update their information.
CA has also warned that if consumers do not register their SIM cards by the new deadline, they will be fined.
Hundreds of thousands of Kenyans missed the April 15 deadline, prompting the government agency to extend it.
CA and the Mobile Network Operators held extensive consultations prior to the extension (MNO).
On Thursday, April 14, CA’s Director General, Ezra Chiloba, and the MNOs met to analyze the exercise’s success rate.
“It is the responsibility of the operators who will advise on whether to switch off the unregistered lines or probably give an extension and allow as many Kenyans as possible to register,” Chiloba had stated in an earlier presser.
CA maintained that the registration exercise is anchored in the constitution mandating mobile Network Operators to carry out the exercise.
“The requirement to update subscriber registration details is being done primarily to protect consumers of telecommunication services – who is you and me. Incidences of sim-boxing, financial fraud, kidnapping, terrorism, and related crimes prevail in situations of compromised sim card registration processes,” Chiloba remarked.
