UAE SIM re-registration deadline looms

UAE mobile users have one week to re-register their SIM cards or risk being disconnected.

Residents across the UAE have until January 17 to register their SIM cards as part of a Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) clampdown on illegal SIM cards and phones.

The TRA was forced to extend the deadline in October after du and Etisalat “were unable to provide smooth mechanisms to facilitate, accelerate and stimulate subscribers to update their data”.

Users can register their SIM cards by taking their passport or national ID to du or Etisalat registration points.

“Mobile phone subscribers are expected to fully update their data and ensure that the SIM cards they’re using are registered under their names,” authorities said in July.

Operator Etisalat has 105 registration points across the UAE while du has 46, said the TRA.

“[Re-registration] prevents any unauthorised or criminal usage of SIM cards and helps in curbing legal or social violations besides reducing frauds that have been noticed during the last few years,” the TRA said.