Your unregistered line is set for the chop, says State

Telecommunication firms will be held responsible for crimes committed through the use of unregistered mobile phone lines on their networks, the government said on Tuesday at the end of the two-month SIM card registration period.

The companies have been given two weeks to deactivate all unregistered lines as they compile all data for handing over to the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK).

The government will be relying on section 23 of the Kenya Communication Amendment Act 2009 which require the operators to have a directory of their subscribers to enforce the directive.

Operators, says the government, stand a fine of not more than for Sh500, 000 for any abuse or contravention of any section of the Act.

This announcement came with the expiry of the extended date for SIM card registration on Tuesday with Information ministry permanent secretary Bitange Ndemo saying that 80 per cent of the total mobile subscribers have already registered their SIM card and thus it will not extend the deadline further.

“We are giving the operators a window of two weeks to reconcile their data from up-country and which there after they will be held responsible for any SIM card that has not been registered and is being used for criminal activities” said Dr Ndemo.

“We are working with the States law office on miscellaneous amendments on that Act which will also make the individual subscribers held responsible for any abuse,” he added.

Registration is however still open for any person acquiring any new line.

Statistics provided to the industry regulator CCK by individual operators indicates that the two new entrants Essar’s Yu and Telkom Kenya’s Orange are still far behind in capturing details of their subscribers.

With a total of an estimated 1.5 million subscribers Yu has managed to register only 445, 189 translating to 30 per cent of its total subscribers.

Orange registered 50 per cent of its 0.5 million GSM subscribers.

Zain Kenya signed up 1.4 million subscribers out of an estimated 2.08 million; 67 per cent of its total subscribers.

Market leader Safaricom registered 13.2 million (81 per cent) of its estimated 16.2 million subscribers.

CCK director general Charles Njoroge attributed the poor distribution network and lack of money transfer services which gave the leading two operators a head start.

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