Fifth phase of “My Number, My Identity” campaign launched

Abu Dhabi: Telecommunications Regulatory Authority has launched the fifth phase of “My Number, My Identity” campaign The UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has announced that the ‘My Number, My Identity’ campaign, launched in July 2012, has successfully entered its fifth phase. This launch is in sync with the previously announced timeline. The campaign was initiated by the TRA in collaboration with the two licensees (Etisalat and du) to increase the mobile subscriber awareness on the new registration procedures for the mobile phone services. It also aims to highlight the important role that subscribers have in protecting their SIM cards to maintain their privacy to avoid any misuse that may occur, since the registered subscriber of the number will be legally and financially accountable. The subscribers and licensees are participating in the process of updating information and registration in order to put the new policies and procedures into action. These policies and procedures are set out by the “My Number, My Identity” campaign which has a timeline of 18 months until the beginning of 2014 and is divided into six stages in order to successfully include the whole country in the registration process. To date, the licensees have finished targeting four groups of subscribers and will now target around a remaining 4 million subscribers during the final stages of the campaign. On the launch of the fifth stage of the ‘My Number, My Identity’ campaign, Mohamed Nasser Al Ghanim, TRA Director-General commented, “The campaign focuses on the procedures that will be undertaken by the TRA in order to ensure transparency in dealing with mobile subscribers and protecting their privacy if misuse occurs by users who use mobile services and are not registered under their names. According to the latest statistics registered during the month of August 2013, more than 12 million subscribers have registered and updated their data packages. This number continues to increase as more subscribers register.” Mohamed Al Ghanim called upon the subscribers to register and update their data in order to avoid disconnection of their service, saying, “The licensees suspended the service for almost three million subscribers who were late in updating their information during the last phases of the campaign. Suspension means that a mobile subscriber cannot make an outgoing call but can receive incoming calls and text messages.” Etisalat and Du have now started to gradually cease service to subscribers who were targeted during the previous stages but failed to update their information even after their service was suspended for three months. Almost two million users have had their services cancelled as a result. Mr. Al Ghanim added, “The TRA encourages e-registration and also encourages the licensees to make sure the facility is available to e-register which goes in line with the new registration procedures and to smoothly facilitate the process.” He called on Etisalat and du to add more facilities that guarantee the registration process is smooth, such as increasing the number of registration places and availing e-registration. Adding, “Companies can arrange with Etisalat and Du in order to register a large number of subscribers through one visit to the company’s workplace, in order to facilitate the registration process for subscribers who may find it difficult to do so individually.” The TRA confirmed that the current phase five targeted numbers mentioned are just approximate quantities that may increase or decrease, as the total number of subscribers in the telecommunications sector is subject to change. – Emirates News Agency, WAM