A number of phone users have not been identified - Biyiti Bi Essam

Invited yesterday on the program broadcast on the national radio “Dimanche Midi”, the Minister of posts and Telecommunications Jean-Pierre Biyiti Bi Essam, addressed the public, demanding explanations why mobile operators asked their subscribers to identify themselves again.

The former journalist reported at first that it is the context of insecurity witnessed by Cameroon which had dictated the action sponsored by his Department. "We are not hiding the fact that this situation is not good. We have a situation today in Cameroon where a number of phone users have not been identified," he said. Another reason, according to the former Minister of communication is to further monitor the usage of phones for the benefit of consumers.

Biyiti Bi Essam believed that the mobile phone companies were a cause of the problem of non-identification of subscribers. "We unfortunately found out that it was as a result of various reasons including the fierce competition between operators, the difficulties that some Cameroonians face to have an identity card. We also found out that so many Sim cards and telephone cards were distributed without the possibility of it being identified. We then carried out a number of surveys which enabled us identify the outstanding problems which includes the fact that a quantity of Sim cards are being used by unknown users," he explained.

However, he reassured, "all those who have a phone without their Sim being identified are not necessarily criminals".

The Minister also stipulated that not all subscribers need to be identified again. "Those who identified themselves with cards which are still valid today need not present themselves to the operators. The operation involves those whose Sim Card is not identified," he informed.