This archive report was first published on 14 November 2019.
On November 13, 2019, Tanzanian Home Affairs Minister Kangi Lugola addressed the country's parliament in Dodoma, assuring citizens that phone users who fail to register their SIM cards biometrically by the December 31 deadline will not be locked out of communication services.
According to Minister Lugola, phone users will continue to enjoy uninterrupted communication services even after the set deadline. He emphasized that no SIM card will be switched off, and no one will be denied mobile phone services for not registering.
Minister Lugola's statement came two days after the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA) announced that over 31 million phone users who have not yet registered biometrically risked being locked out on the December 31 deadline.
TCRA's acting corporate communications manager, Semu Mwakyanjala, had previously stated that only 12 million out of 43.75 million mobile phone subscribers had biometrically registered their SIM cards.
Minister Lugola also clarified that only between 13 million and 14 million Tanzanians out of a population of 55 million had national identification cards issued by the National Identification Authority (NIDA), a prerequisite for the biometric registration of SIM cards.
The registration of SIM cards is mandatory under the Electronics and Postal Communications Act of 2010, and failure to comply can result in penalties.
