Botswana Reminds PrePay Subscribers to Register Details by Year-End

Botswana's telecoms regulator has warned that the vast majority of prepay SIM cards have yet to register their ownership details before a cut-off deadline at the end of this year. According to the Botswana Telecommunications Authority's Public Relations Officer, Twoba Koontse, just 267,113 subscribers have registered their details.

This represents around ­13 percent of the customer base in the country.

"I am obviously not happy as the numbers of those who have registered now are by far below what we have expected to have registered by now," Koontse told the Sunday Standard newspaper.

He has urged the operators to publicise the need to register their details lest their SIM cards are disconnected in the new year.

"We are also doing our part by running adverts in the media and holding road shows around the country," he added.

"Our deadline stands. All those who will not have registered on 31 December will be cut off," he promised.

He also indicated that the registration was required due to laws from an organisation called the International Telecommunications Federation - which if a reference to the ITU, might surprise the UN body as it hasn't made any policy on the matter, let alone been able to pass laws about it.

On the web: Sunday Standard

Posted to the site on 21st September 2009