Kigali
— Rwanda's Utilities Regulatory Agency (RURA) says it will disconnect all
mobile phones from the network if their owners fail to respond to the ongoing
campaign of registering user simcard numbers.RURA is currently working with the country's telecommunication service providers to test register simcards of mobile phone users in an exercise which started January 10 and planned to end on February 3rd.
In an interview with the EABW last week, Jean Baptiste Mutabazi, RURA's head of communications and media Regulation department said official registration will start on February 4th after ensuring the system works properly.
"It's an easy process which shouldn't last more than four minutes per single registration therefore we expect members of the general public to support it," explained Mutabazi.
The agency is working with MTN, TIGO and Airtel, the three telecommunication services in the country to register their subscribers and the firms, according to Mutabazi are cooperating through setting up special desks at each of their service centers as well as door to door agents to carry out registration of sim-cards.
To register, users are required to submit information as printed on their national identity cards as well as revealing their mobile phone numbers to the registration officers.
"We are open to multiple sim-card ownership so as long as they are registered and owned by one person," clarified Mutabazi.
It's a common practice for mobile phone subscribers to own more than one phone or multi-sim-card handsets carrying different sim cards but authorities say the registration process recognizes that so as long as all lines are registered to a single person.
After the official launch of sim-card registration next month, Mutabazi warns that anyone who will refuse to register their phone numbers will be switched off the network and isolated.
"It's for everyone's benefit; we shall not arrest or arraign anyone in court, we shall just isolate them by switching their phones off all the networks," revealed Mutabazi.
The New Times of Rwanda