1.6 million pre-paid SIM card users have one month left to register
Since last December, 2 million users of pre-paid cards have already identified themselves with their mobile operator. Some 1.6 million SIM cards have not yet been registered. Their holders still have one more month to identify themselves, otherwise their SIM cards will be deactivated. To raise user awareness throughout this final month, the telecommunications regulator IBPT and mobile operators have today launched the website http://www.identification-prepaidcards.be with the Telecommunications Minister, Alexander De Croo.
Since the end of last year, new pre-paid SIM cards must be identified. This is one of the measures taken by the federal government following the 22 March attacks. Users of pre-paid cards have received a six-month deadline to register their identity with a mobile operator. This transition period expires on 7 June.
Over the past few months, the different operators have taken action to encourage all pre-paid SIM card users to register. Despite these efforts, 1.6 million customers have just a few weeks left to register before the deadline. If this continues, the telecoms regulator IBPT estimates that 1.2 million SIM cards may not have been identified by the 7 June cut-off date.
Act today to avoid disappointment tomorrow
All pre-paid cards that have not been identified by 7 June will be suspended by operators and will immediately become unusable: users will no longer be able to phone and to be called, surf the web or send and receive SMS messages with this card.
Some operators will begin to suspend users' cards in May. The users concerned have been warned in advance.
To avoid disappointment, it is important that the holders of pre-paid cards make themselves known as soon as possible with their mobile operators. This is also about better serving customers and avoiding unnecessary waiting times around the cut-off date.
SIM cards of alarm systems and online devices are also targeted
It should be noted that all prepaid cards must be identified regardless of the purpose of their use (including those active in alarm systems, online devices, etc.).
Mobile operators are making every effort to ensure that existing prepaid customers can quickly and easily identify themselves. This operation requires very little time and can be carried out in different ways depending on the operator.
On the website http://www.identification-prepaidcards.be, users of pre-paid SIM cards can find out how to identify themselves with their mobile operator. The website also displays a countdown until 7 June. During this final month, IBPT will provide weekly figures relating to the new registrations.
The Ministry of Telecommunications, Alexander De Croo has declared: "There is less than one month left for users to register their anonymous prepaid SIM cards with their mobile operator. 2 million have already done so in recent months. I am calling upon all pre-paid card users who have not yet identified themselves to do so as quickly as possible. Identification is really easy and only takes a few minutes."
