Papua New Guinea’s communications minister Sam Basil has confirmed that the deadline for customers to register their SIM cards has been extended to 30 April 2018, EMTV Online reports. Mr Basil has stressed, however, that this will be the last time the cut-off date is pushed back, noting: ‘There will be no more extensions after 30th April 2018. This is the final extension before SIM cards are deactivated.’
With around 1.5 million subscribers still yet to provide their details, the minister has called on the nation’s three mobile network operators (MNOs) – bmobile-Vodafone, Digicel PNG and Telikom PNG – to work closely with the National Information and Communications Technology Authority (NICTA) to set their own scheduled deadlines for their subscribers by districts, provinces and regions to ensure that they capture data form all customers. Commenting on the progress made by the MNOs in registering SIMs so far, Mr Basil was cited as saying: ‘Telikom PNG has registered 74% of its subscribers, with bmobile-Vodafone registering 62% and Digicel PNG managing only 42% to date.’
Meanwhile, it has also been confirmed that the cellcos will be liable to fines of PGK50,000 (USD15,100) per SIM card for every unregistered card that they fail to deactivate once the April deadline passes.