Santo Domingo.- The president of the Dominican Institute of Telecommunications (Indotel), Guido Gómez Mazara, announced today a new measure aimed at eradicating the risks associated with anonymous SIM cards. He granted a period of 30 days to mobile phone operators to clean up their databases, eliminating those prepaid lines that are not linked to a verified identity.
From the resolution’s entry into force, points of sale will no longer be able to deliver prepaid SIM cards without requiring the buyer’s ID or passport, as well as a photo of the holder. In this way, it seeks to help the authorities in tracking calls or messages associated with illicit activities, such as drug trafficking or contract killing.
The official explained that if the user does not validate their line within the established period, it will be suspended for two months and, if the lack of identification persists, it will be permanently canceled.
During the presentation, Gómez Mazara indicated that in the last 18 months, 54,378 stolen phones were reported, an average of 3,021 cases per month, of which 4,000 victims were foreigners. In addition, it is estimated that 4,000 stolen cell phones enter each month from abroad, and about 85% of the 400,000 prepaid lines contracted per month are sold informally, which makes their control difficult.
“Whoever steals a cell phone and gets an anonymous SIM, can continue committing crimes without leaving a trace. That’s going to end,” said the president of Indotel.
The official explained that if the user does not validate their line within the established period, it will be suspended for two months and, if the lack of identification persists, it will be permanently canceled.
During the presentation, Gómez Mazara indicated that in the last 18 months, 54,378 stolen phones were reported, an average of 3,021 cases per month, of which 4,000 victims were foreigners. In addition, it is estimated that 4,000 stolen cell phones enter each month from abroad, and about 85% of the 400,000 prepaid lines contracted per month are sold informally, which makes their control difficult.
