Who Is Behind The Number - Is It Possible?

The SIM card registration process and policy, which are still in the works, are aimed at gathering information on all telecom subscribers as a result of concerns for the identity of criminals, who latch onto the technology to commit crimes.

 The calculation among stakeholders is that if data on a subscriber is collected, the operator would be able to determine who owns a line used for criminal purposes and offer such information to security agencies on request.

 At the moment, operators can release call details of a telephone number by the order of a court or a tribunal or at the request of a law enforcement officer not below the rank of a Deputy Commissioner of Police.

 However, security investigations after call details of a number have been obtained are being hampered by the fact that the identity of the subscribers are not being kept by the operators.

 At the consultative forum in Abuja on Thursday, the Executive Vice-Chairman, NCC, Mr. Ernest Ndukwe, said criminals were exploiting the anonymity of prepaid SIM cards to avoid detection.

 He said the industry must urgently address the problem because as many as 50 million people on the mobile networks were prepaid subscribers, whose identities were neither known to the operators nor to the regulatory agency.

 He said, “The commission has been deliberating on this issue for sometime and additionally, we have received complaints from security agencies expressing growing concern about the use of mobile phones to commit crimes and the difficulty in tracking down perpetrators who take advantage of unregistered SIM cards, especially for prepaid consumers.

 “As part of an ongoing holistic security review by the government, the commission by this consultative meeting, planned to work together with all network operators, who issue SIM cards to subscribers to agree on a workable regulatory regime.”

 He added, “A definite timeframe will be set when operators will be required to ensure compliance in recording the personal details of all customers who buy prepaid SIM cards.”