18 months – that’s the timeframe the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has announced for registration for the ‘My Number, My Identity’ campaign.

The campaign aims at ensuring that the SIM cards being used by mobile phone subscribers in the UAE are registered under their own names to prevent any potential misuse. The campaign highlights the importance of the mobile subscribers’ responsibility in protecting their SIM cards against potential misuse, since the registered owner of the number will be legally and financially accountable for any misuse.

The Authority has also initiated a host of procedures to facilitate the process of transferring the SIM cards from the actual owners to the actual users – in case the two aren’t the same.

The registration process is divided into six stages to ensure that all users successfully complete their registration. The UAE’s two service providers – etisalat and du – are in the process of providing the necessary elements and the required preparations for the new registration process of all mobile phone subscribers in the UAE.

The campaign has been launched in collaboration with the two licensees (etisalat and du). The TRA will monitor the registration process so that it is as per the policies and procedures. Furthermore, mobile phone subscribers are expected to fully update their data and ensure that the SIM cards they're using are registered under their names.

Additionally, the licensees will conduct their own awareness campaigns to further announce details of the process of registering SIM cards as mandated by the TRA. The licensees have also assigned dedicated teams to manage this initiative cohesively, ensuring the quality and accuracy of the mobile phone subscribers' registered data through the availability of the licensees' sales outlets throughout the UAE.

Mohamed Nasser Al Ghanim, TRA Director General stated: “The ‘My Number, My Identity’ campaign reflects on TRA’s efforts to promote transparency and protect the privacy of mobile subscribers if misuse occurs by users who uses mobile services not registered under their names.

“The TRA had introduced a number of procedures to facilitate the process of transferring the SIM cards from the actual owners to the actual users. Thus, the TRA will help attain an easy and flawless procedure to successfully activate the service and supervise the implementation process by the licensees.”

Etisalat has around 105 sales outlets and du has around 46 outlets across the UAE.

Image from shutterstock

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