Government to begin re-registration of SIM cards in June, says Ursula

Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, the Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, has announced plans by the government to embark on re-registration of SIM cards from next month.

She says the move will help monitor and track down individuals who use their phones for criminal activities.

Speaking on Peace FM, the minister said the re-registration exercise, which was supposed to have been carried out last year, was put on hold because of the COVID-19 outbreak.

“I made mention that we will embark on the SIM re-registration in October 2019, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we couldn’t go ahead with the exercise,” she said.

“By June, we will begin the re-registration of SIM cards with a valid national ID card. All the measures have been put in place for the exercise, all the systems are in place, but it was left for us to consult the ID-issuing agencies. And the agreement is to start with the national ID card.”

Owusu-Ekuful said the government is yet to determine the duration of the exercise in consultation with the various telecommunications operators.

She warned that any SIM card not re-registered will be deactivated after the exercise.

Telcos to launch national roaming service

Meanwhile, Owusu-Ekuful has announced plans to introduce a national roaming service in the telecoms sector by the end of this year.

She said the government is already in talks with the various networks to ensure the smooth take-off of the project.

Under the new arrangement, mobile subscribers will soon be able to enjoy service across the country, even in areas where their telecom service provider does not have coverage.

Speaking on The Asaase Breakfast Show on Friday 30 April 2021 the minister told Nana Yaa Mensah that the move will help facilitate other initiatives across Ghana such as telemedicine.

“Another thing that we are doing is to mandate national roaming. So [you can have access to the phone network] whether there is a service from your service provider in a particular part of the country or not, just like we roam on other networks.

“Small fee”

“You can roam on other networks when you travel to a region [or] district, or where your network provider is not present, for a small fee. Which you won’t feel, because it will be part of the charges that you pay to your network provider,” she said.

All the telecoms providers have pledged their support so far for the national roaming initiative, Owusu-Ekuful said.

“But there will be a bilateral arrangement between all the players to ensure that the national roaming happens. We are going to do that by the end of this year. I have already told them we are doing this.”

Fred Dzakpata

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