Kenya’s Communications Authority (CA) has welcomed progress made by Safaricom, Airtel Kenya and Telkom Kenya in having increased the number of fully compliant subscriber registrations by the 15 October deadline. However, the companies are now mandated to reach 100% within 60 days.

CA Director General, Ezra Chiloba said Safaricom achieved a registration rate of 93% of subscribers from 52% in January 2022. Airtel Kenya also moved up to 81.2% from 42% registration rate.

Telkom Kenya numbers are currently being reviewed.

Speaking at a recent cybersecurity conference, Chiloba reiterated that SIM registration compliance was a key part of government’s cybersecurity initiatives.

He said, “Each operator is under obligation to ensure 100 percent compliance. For the avoidance of doubt, the 60 days is not an extension, but a period for the mobile operators to take certain actions including denial of service to prompt further compliance.”

The regulator warned telcos that failure to comply will lead to a fine of up 0.5% of their annual gross turnover.

According to regulations, telcos are required to maintain registration details of their subscribers including full names and identification proof of either passport or national ID.

However, after the 15 October deadline, there were reports of complaints by some users that despite having successfully used mobile money services on networks – which requires authentication and verification of details – they had their SIM cards disconnected.

Chilob added, “We are moving from a state of confusion on how we organise our data to a more organised space. It was important because of what we had observed from a regulatory point of view.”