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Source:
www.mha.gov.sg |
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REGULATORY CONTROLS ON PREPAID SIM CARDS FROM 1ST NOV
2005 |
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SINGAPORE TIGHTENS SECURITY CONTROLS |
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As part of an ongoing and holistic security
review by the Government to boost Singapore¡¯s security, the Ministry of
Home Affairs (MHA), in collaboration with the Infocomm Development
Authority of Singapore (IDA), have worked together with mobile service
providers on a practical regulatory regime over prepaid SIM1
cards. |
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Security Concerns |
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Mr Wong Kan Seng, Deputy Prime Minister and
Minister for Home Affairs, has observed that prepaid SIM cards is an
area of security concern. |
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He says, ¡°Criminals exploit the anonymity of
prepaid SIM cards to avoid detection. Terrorist groups like the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) have done so too. In the region,
we have seen Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) elements using prepaid SIM cards
extensively to avoid detection. In Songkhla this April, three
simultaneous bombings happened in the evening. All three bombs were
detonated using mobile phones, possibly utilising prepaid SIM cards.¡± |
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DPM/Minister Wong has stressed that
¡°Singapore must address this problem urgently as there are over 1.4
million local prepaid SIM cards, comprising 35 per cent of the mobile
market, in circulation today.¡± |
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Singapore will not be the first, or only,
country strengthening controls to deal with the anonymity of prepaid SIM
cards. Switzerland and Australia have already enacted legislation to
enforce registration requirements. |
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Measures to Prevent Abuse |
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The Ministry has been working closely with
the IDA and the mobile service providers to work out practical
regulatory controls that will be implemented from 1 November. |
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The Ministry and IDA has taken into
consideration various factors, including the need to facilitate
investigations by law enforcement agencies, usage by the public, and
business considerations of mobile service providers. |
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Compulsory Recording of Customer Details
and Re-registration by Existing Customers |
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From 1 November, mobile service providers,
such as the Singapore Telecom Mobile Pte Ltd, StarHub Mobile Pte Ltd and
MobileOne Ltd, will be required to ensure compliance in recording the
personal details of all customers who buy prepaid SIM cards. |
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This will be included as part of the
Facilities-Based Operator licence condition imposed by IDA. The three
mobile service providers will be required to electronically record
customer personal details. The new electronic system will replace their
existing manual recording of customer personal details. Annex A shows
the re-registration and registration processes. |
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These changes replace the existing practice
by the mobile service providers of manually recording customer personal
details. |
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Over the years and due to an exponential
expansion in the prepaid SIM card market, the practice of recording
customers¡¯ details has eroded. For example, some retailers had recorded
names like ¡®Santa Claus¡¯, while other retailers simply record their own
names as having purchased the prepaid SIM card. |
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To ensure that customer particulars are
accurately recorded, all existing prepaid SIM card users are
required to re-register at retail outlets which sell prepaid SIM
cards sold by their respective mobile service providers. |
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Users can continue to use their prepaid SIM
cards if they re-register their particulars with their mobile operators
during the six-month re-registration period of 1 Nov 2005 to 1 May 2006.
It is only if they do not re-register during the specified period that
their prepaid SIM cards will be deactivated from 2 May 2006. |
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For the purpose of registering prepaid SIM
cards, the following documents will be accepted: |
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Singaporeans: Pink
identity cards |
| - Singapore
Permanent Residents: Blue identity cards |
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National Servicemen:
SAF11 B, SPF11 B and SCDF11 B2 |
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Foreign Workers:
Work Permit Identification Cards (issued from 3 May 1999) |
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Foreign Visitors:
Passports |
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New Requirements |
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From 1 November, there will also be two
new requirements, i.e. a minimum age requirement and a cap on the
maximum number of cards purchased. |
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Customers must be at least 15 years old
before being eligible to purchase a prepaid SIM card. |
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In addition, each customer is
limited to a maximum of 10 prepaid SIM cards.
This is regardless of the mobile service provider from which the
customer purchases the prepaid SIM card. For instance, a customer can
subscribe to a maximum of 10 prepaid SIM cards from only one mobile
service provider, or a combination of the 3 mobile service providers. |
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The cap of 10 is based on market trends
which show that the majority of prepaid SIM card subscribers register
for up to 5 prepaid SIM cards. The new terminal devices are able to
verify if customers have exceeded the maximum number of prepaid SIM
cards they are eligible to purchase. |
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Public and Customer Queries |
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Members of the public who have queries
relating to the licensing, or the policy behind the regulatory controls
over prepaid SIM cards may wish to visit the MHA website at
www.mha.gov.sg or call IDA / MHA
Feedback (Prepaid SIM Cards) at 65110613. |
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Prepaid SIM card users should approach their
respective mobile service providers for details specific to service from
their mobile service providers. |
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Mcard (MobileOne)
Tel:
1800-8438288
Hi!Card (SingTel)
Tel:
1800-4822800
Green
Prepaid (StarHub)
Tel: 1633 |
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MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS
INFOCOMM
DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY OF SINGAPORE
21
October 2005
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Footnote:
1
SIM or Subscriber Identification Module cards are tiny removable encoded
circuit boards which are fitted into GSM cell phones at the time of
signing on as a subscriber. It holds the details of the subscriber,
security and personal data, and memory to store personal numbers. A SIM
card also stores information which helps the network service provider
recognise the caller. The SIM also stores user ID and billing
information and can be interchanged between phones. Users can easily
receive personal calls even while using someone else¡¯s phone just by
installing their SIM card into another mobile phone.
2
The SAF 11B is the military identity card. The SPF 11B and SCDF 11B are
issued to Full-Time National Servicemen. |
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More..... |
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Source:
www.gov.sg Media Release 21 Oct 2005 |
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Important
Notice |
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Editions are a historical record of our Web site and reflect
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FrontPage Edition: Sat 22 Oct 2005
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