The Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications has announced that telcos in the country will begin deactivating some category of SIM cards in compliance with the Ministry of Communications and Digitalization’s November 11, 2022 directive.
Techgh24 has learnt that the SIM cards to be deactivated by midnight today are about nine (9) million in total.
Since November 20, 2022 telcos have, as directed by the Ministry, been blocking data services for all subscribers who have only completed stage 1 of SIM registration (linkage of SIM to Ghana Card) but not stage 2 (biometric capture).
The Chamber clarified that the category of subscribers to be blocked from the midnight of November 30, 2022 are “only subscribers that have completed stage 1 (linkage to Ghana Card) but are yet to complete stage 2 (biometric capture) of the SIM registration.”
It said the services to be blocked on those SIM cards are Voice, Data (mobile phones, Mi-Fi, other data devices), SMS (incoming and outgoing), USSD, Mobile Money services, and Emergency services.
“Our members are obliged by the directive to completely deactivate all subscriber SIMs which have not completed the biometric capture registration by close of business today, November 30, 2022,” it said.
The Chamber however noted that it is imperative that the cherished customers of the networks are not barred from using voice, data, USSD, mobile money services and access to emergency services among others.
It is therefore encouraging all subscribers who have acquired Ghana cards but are yet to complete stage 2 (biometric capture) to do so without delay.
“Subscribers with Ghana cards can avoid this inconvenience by completing the registration process, i.e., stage 2 (biometric capture) before the close of day today,” it said. “Our members remain committed to supporting the efforts of all stakeholders to ensure that every customer in every part of the country is able to register their SIM card(s) with the Ghana card.”
