Uganda to require SIM registration, commencing in March

Uganda is to start requiring mobile phone users to register their SIM cards with the mobile networks from March, the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) has announced.

Customers will be given a year to prove their identity to the mobile networks. From March 2013, any unregistered SIM cards will be cut-off.

The government cited cutting down on crime, harassment and terrorism as the reason for the decision. Nigeria implemented a similar programme in April 2011, which was scheduled to last for six months until the end of September. There have been calls to extend the process for at least another few months in the country.

Nigerian mobile operators have described having suffered a hiatus of mobile activations for much of 2011 as a result of the SIM registration requirement, and operators in Uganda are likely to experience the same.