Etisalat launches online SIM card registration facility

KABUL): The Etisalat private telecommunication company on Wednesday launched an online SIM card registration programme to prevent fraud and forgery.

Previously, SIM cards were registered on papers — a time-consuming process that involved the risk of forgery and fraud. But from now on, the SIM cards will be registered online through “MTOs Application”.

Senior Etisalat official Zakaria Hassan told journalists in Kabul the system would be operational at all branches of the company.

Whenever a customer wants to get a SIM card, he/she will have to to provide a copy of the national identity card, a photograph and signatures, which will be sent to the main office in 10 minutes.

“We want to facilitate our clients with the online registration system through a new technology, according to the telecom law,” he added.

The technology, costing $5 million (249 million afghanis), was being used at 500 Etisalat branches, mostly in the capital Kabul and major provinces, such as Kandahar, Herat, Nangarhar and Balkh, Hassan explained.

Also present at the news briefing, Deputy Minister of Communications and Information Technology Baryalai Hassam called the registration of SIM cards a priority of the ministry. He asked telecom firms to issue SIM cards in a legal manner.

“Since we have security problems, the ministries of communication and interior have jointly taken steps toward registration of SIM cards,” he said.

Private telecommunication companies should refrain from issuing unregistered SIM cards that posed a threat to national security, the deputy minister concluded.

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