Clock ticking on Senegal’s mobile ID registration scheme

Senegal’s Ministry of Communication, Telecommunications and Digital Economy launched a scheme on 20 June to identify all mobile subscribers in the country, Agence Ecofin reports. The project will be managed by the country’s telecoms regulator, the Agence de Regulation des Telecoms et Postes (ARTP), is expected to take about a month to complete and will close on 31 July. ARTP chief executive Abu Lo is quoted as saying that Senegal has decided to adopt recommendations laid out by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) – adopted in 2007 – that require domestic cellcos to identify who is using their mobile services in order to provide more reliable statistics on the market, improve security and tackle the grey market for phones. The CEO said that six years after adopting the decree, Senegal’s wireless service providers have failed to complete the mobile identification scheme and that enough is enough. It is understood that Orange Senegal, Tigo Senegal and Sudatel Senegal (Expresso) have deployed teams across the country to complete the process by the July deadline.