Ministry to begin prepaid registration campaign

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government plans to begin registering all current and new users of prepaid cellular phone numbers in the coming weeks.

"There goes the reason for buying a prepaid number, which is that there is no fuss. You might as well use a postpaid number now," said Astari Dyah, a 22-year-old education consultant.

That was the most frequent reaction to the government's announcement that it would soon begin enforcing the Ministry of Communications and Information's ruling on prepaid cellular phone numbers, which was issued to help fight crime by eliminating the total anonymity of prepaid cellular phone numbers.

The ministry, in cooperation will all domestic cellular operators, will begin registering the numbers in mid-December, the ministry's director for post and telecommunications, Basuki Yusuf Iskandar, said last week.

"We will likely use a manual and on-line registration system. But the final details will be worked out during a coordination meeting on Monday," he said.

The ministry is requiring all cellular phone operators to identify and register their prepaid card users nationwide, in compliance with a ruling issued on Oct. 14.

Under the ruling, it is compulsory for cellular operators to compile the names, addresses and birth dates of all prepaid subscribers, who will be required to provide copies of a legal form of identification, including passport or driver's license.

The ministry has set a deadline of April next year for cellular operators to complete the registration process.

This could prove difficult, with prepaid cellular phone cards still sold without the purchasers being asked to provide any ID or to fill out a registration form.

Cellular operators Telkomsel, Indosat and Excelcomindo have said they are still studying the issue before deciding on the most effective way to register prepaid card users.

Ventura Elisawati, corporate secretary for Excelcomindo Pratama, the country's third largest cellular operator, said registration might be done by requiring customers to contact a call center to activate new numbers.

Existing prepaid subscribers would likely be contacted directly by the call center to complete their identification, Ventura said.

The registration is aimed at helping to fight a whole range of crimes, from financial scams to terrorism.

The compiled data will be submitted to the Attorney General's Office, the National Police and the communications ministry.

There are currently more than 40 million cellular phone subscribers in the country, 90 percent of whom use prepaid numbers.