Court orders interim injunction on SIM card registration
Madang MP Brian Krammer has filed an injunction against the SIM card deactivation process.
The Waigani National Court has ordered an interim injunction against the deactivation of unregistered SIM cards which is set to take place at midnight (Papua New Guinea time).
According to the Post Courier, the injunction was granted after Madang MP, Brian Krammer filed an urgent application. The matter will return to court on May 15 for the commencement of formal proceedings.
Krammer filed the application based on a discussion with Madang Provincial pediatrician, Dr Jimmy Aipit, who said the deactivation exercise would put the health and welfare of his patients in rural Madang at risk.
The court injunction comes despite the head of the National Information & Communication Technology Authority (NICTA), Charles Punaha, stating there the deadline will not be further extended.
Mr Punaha said it is a requirement by law and all mobile network operators are required to deactivate unregistered SIM cards at 1 minute past midnight. He said there was sufficient time given for registration.
The notice for registration was given out in July 2016 although Punaha making mention of this exercise as early as 2013.
Meanwhile, the deactivation process of unregistered SIM cards would mean a loss of 54% of Digicel, 27% of Telikom PNG and 36% of bmobile-Vodafone subscribers. However, social commentators have indicated that the numbers could be inflated.
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