Mobile operators deactivate 287,214 SIM cards

Telecommunication operators have deactivated a further 287,214 SIM cards between April and June this year as part of the ongoing SIM registration exercise.

New data from the Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) shows the number of mobile subscriptions fell further to 64.7 million from 64.9 million at the end of March.

Cumulatively, a total of 411,903 SIM cards have been deactivated by mobile operators since the start of 2022, with 124,689 SIM cards deactivated between January and March.

“During the 2021-2022 financial year, the mobile phone telephone service sub-sector was marked by a significant regulatory intervention that involved updating the registration details of all SIM cards in the country. This exercise resulted to deactivation of SIM cards registered under the wrong identification details,” the CA said in its quarterly report to June.

The SIM/mobile penetration rate has subsequently fallen from the deactivation to 130.9 per cent in June after peaking at 133.6 per cent in December.

On April 14, the CA extended the SIM registration deadline to October 15 allowing more time for network operators and subscribers to comply with the directive.

At the time, CA Director Ezra Chiloba said Safaricom had achieved a 67 per cent rate of compliance in the registration exercise while Airtel Kenya and Telkom had a rate of compliance of 55 and 33 per cent respectively.

Non-compliance to the exercise is expected to attract fines to both operators and subscribers.