SIM-card scarcity problem in market solved: MoTIT

KABUL (Pajhwok): In response to people’s complaints about to the halt of SIM cards distribution, the Ministry of Telecommunications, Information and Technology (MoTIT) says the issue has been resolved and people can obtain SIM cards from all branches of telecom firms.

Recently, a number of citizens complained about the lack of SIM cards in the market and said they were unable to obtain a SIM card despite their frequent approach to the telecom offices.

Shaheen Ahmadi, a resident of Kabul, said he had strived for several days in order to acquire a SIM card but his efforts yielded no result and at last he preferred to use his brother’s SIM card.

Sami Faiz, another inhabitant of Kabul, said recently there was a shortage of SIM cards in Kabul markets and in some places the price of a single SIM cards was several times high.

He said a few days ago he had approached the main office of MTN, a telecom company, to get a SIM card, but he was told that the SIM card distribution process had been suspended.

But Inayatullah Alokozai, a spokesman for the MoTIT wrote on his X handle: “The problem of lack of SIM cards in the market has been solved and citizens can acquire SIM cards from all branches of telecom companies.”

On the other hand, the Afghanistan Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (ATRA) said currently the distribution of SIM cards was not stopped and sometimes the suspension in the process happened due to technical problems.

Jalaluddin Shams, a spokesman for ATRA, told Pajhwok that the price of each SIM was set at 100afs based on the new procedure and no telecommunication firm reserved the right to sell it at higher price.

He said out of 23 million subscribers of telecommunication companies across the country, about 6.5 million have been registered in this procedure with ATRA and the process to register all the SIM cards was underway.

He asked all the customers of the telecom firms to register their SIM cards according to the latest procedure for the improvement of security and ensure cooperation with government agencies and avoid irregularities.

kk/sa