SA's top three mobile operators, Vodacom, MTN and Cell C, are confident the majority of their subscribers will be registered for Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act (RICA) by the extended June deadline.
The law is designed to limit crime committed using cellphones and curb the theft of such devices. It requires all cellular operators to register their subscribers' identity numbers and proof of residence, or cut them off from the network.
Initially, operators had 18 months - until the end of December - to register their subscribers; however, after extensive lobbying, operators were granted an extension to 11 June.
The extension was welcomed by operators that were still struggling to register between 20% and 25% of their subscriber base.
Although operators are not yet in crisis mode, the number of unregistered subscribers translates into millions of cellphone users across the country.
Furthermore, the operators stand to take a financial knock if the number of unregistered subscribers remains high.
As such, Vodacom, MTN and Cell C have re-committed to further RICA marketing and awareness to their customers to avoid the risk of having to cut off subscribers.
Karel Pienaar, MTN SA MD, previously said the operators would welcome the extension as they are struggling to get the last 20% of the country's 50 million SIM cards registered.
“I don't know if it is the general South African trend to wait until the last minute, but we need time to do the last push.”
“We're obviously going to keep up our efforts to encourage the rest of our customers to register before the June cut-off,” says Vodacom spokesperson Richard Boorman.
Sean van der Westhuizen, Cell C's sales operations executive, is confident Cell C will meet the new deadline and explains that the operator will continue its campaigns to promote RICA registrations.
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