The burden of cellphone registration

Registering prepaid cellular phone subscribers is proving to be a sticky issue in the drafting of the amendment to the interception law. While it probably won`t have the negative economic impact the cellular network operators claim it will have, there are some practicalities that drafters have to take into account.

To give it its full name, the Regulation of Interception and Provision of Communications-related Information Act (RICA) was originally drafted four years ago, but it is only now coming into effect.

From 1 July, the network operators, or anyone who provides a telecommunications service to subscribers, have to start registering their customers over a period of 12 months. Network operators will also be obliged to install interception equipment.

This is to provide law enforcement agencies with a route to lawfully intercept calls being made by criminal suspects. It will allow them to trace the ownership of handsets used to commit crime, such as distributing and downloading child pornography, setting up organised criminal rings, transacting illicit deals such as drug dealing, intimidation, and threats to state security.

Ideally, law enforcement wants a situation where not only every SIM card is registered to a person, but every handset as well.

Ideally, law enforcement wants a situation where not only every SIM card is registered to a person, but every handset as well.

Paul Vecchiatto, Cape correspondent

In terms of the RICA amendments being debated, the network operator must obtain from a prepaid subscriber his or her full names, ID number and three addresses (physical, business and postal). Furthermore, the person`s personal details must correspond with a SIM card number, cellphone number (also known as the MSISDN number) and the handset manufacturer`s IMEA number.

Furthermore, the law also wants the private sale of a handset to be recorded. If one person sells it to another who is not a family member, then both parties` details have to be captured.

The network operators, to a lesser or greater degree, counter this by saying these requirements place a particular burden on the informal sector, where the access to equipment to do this is limited. Their proposals include the capture of initials and surname, the cellular number because that is automatically linked to a SIM card, and only one address, as most people in the informal sector do not necessarily have physical or postal addresses.

The operators also state they have no control over handsets. Less than 10% of the country`s handsets actually come through the formal distribution channels, while the large majority are from grey marketers and other indirect importers. But a handset is automatically linked to a SIM card once the two are connected to the network and a record is kept of all the handset numbers used by a SIM cardholder.

The network operators are also complaining about the cost burden. For instance, MTN has already stated it will have to pay about R100 million to set up the registration process structures. Vodacom and Cell C have not stated their estimates, but the former has said installation of the interception equipment has cost it R100 million alone.

While these costs will not be directly passed onto the subscribers, the network operators will try to recoup them. That is the way businesses work, no matter how profitable they are.

Then there is the registration logistical nightmare. Vodacom says it will have to register 9 000 subscribers an hour to meet the deadline, MTN estimates about 8 000 of its customers per day and Cell C has talked about registering 250 000 customers per month.

RICA`s impact on the economy is still uncertain. The network operators say it will slow economic growth as it will be more difficult to get a connection.

However, I believe the long-term economic impact will be muted. South Africans are compliant when it comes to these sorts of laws, for example, the change in driver`s licence format of three years ago. There may be a short-term dip in subscribers, but the cellular market is close to saturation anyway. And it may help to give it a bit of a shake-up that it probably needs.

But then again, this law will probably also have a limited impact on fighting crime. Criminals live not only for making money despite the law, they also look for opportunities that such laws provide. I would not be surprised to hear of all sorts of fraudulent activities going on during the period, such as false registration points being set up.

Law enforcement does need a tool such as RICA to do its job effectively. But it must be good law that impacts the cost of doing business and the individual as mildly as possible.