UNIPATH STAFF
As part of a strategy to combat terrorist threats, mobile phone operators in Tajikistan have begun reregistering all SIM cards in the country. This new policy will promote security and assist investigators working to solve crimes, according to Alibek Beknazarov, a representative of Tajikistan’s communications agency.
“There are subscribers who have several SIM cards and give them to their relatives, friends and acquaintances, who are sometimes living abroad, to use,” Beknazarov told Khovar, the state news agency. “Reregistering SIM cards is indispensable because of the dangers of terrorism. This measure will enable us to create a database of genuine users.” The cards are portable memory chips used in cellphones and generally hold personal information of the account holder.
To demonstrate the scale of the problem, officials noted that only 6 million of the 11 million registered SIM cards in the country were used regularly. Many people, officials say, own several SIM cards to keep costs down on their phone bills.
Additionally, officials raised concerns about the popularity of Tajik SIM cards across the border in northern Afghanistan. Mansurdzhon Umarov, first deputy head of the State National Security Committee, told lawmakers that such cards are sold openly in Afghan marketplaces.
“We have information that on the border with our country, insurgents with the Afghan Taliban movement are actively using Tajik SIM cards,” Umarov said.
To reregister SIM cards, phone users will need to bring passports and SIM cards to mobile companies’ official service centers. If users fail to reregister, their SIM cards will be deactivated within
the year. Source: Eurasia.net