Tanzania to switch off 19m Sim cards by end of January

The Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) says it has already switched off some three million sim cards and will disconnect 15 million more by the end of January because their owners are yet to register them via the biometric system.

The regulator reiterated it will also take to task those who would use their National Identification Numbers (NINs) to register Sim cards for other people.

The government had scheduled registration of Sim cards last year starting on May 1, 2019 with a deadline of December 31, 2019. However, on December 27, 2019, President John Magufuli extended the deadline by 20 days.

The TCRA’s statistics shows that there are more than 48.8 million active Sim cards in the country. But by January 19, 2020 only a total of 28.4 million Sim cards had been registered using the new system.

The TCRA then announced that it would switch off the Sim cards in phases.

On Monday, TCRA said that between January 20 and January 26, it had switched off 3.7 million Sim cards.

“On Monday we started the next phase of switching off Sim cards amounting to 15,282,410 and we expect to complete the exercise by January 31.

“We urge those who have not registered using the new system to do so and if you want to register a Sim card for the use of your son/daughter or relative, you have to follow the laid down procedures,” insisted TCRA.