The country’s four telecom operators have been fined US$ 100,000 each by the Posts and Telecommunications Department (PTD) for violating SIM card registration rules. The PTD is under the supervision of the junta’s Ministry of Transport and Communications.
The fines were imposed amid the regime’s ongoing crackdown on unregistered SIM cards, a move widely seen as an effort to trace and identify resistance forces.
Human rights groups have criticized the junta for its attempts to intercept calls and read text messages and emails, via telecom networks, since it seized power in a coup in February 2021.
The PTD fined operators MPT, ATOM, Ooredoo and MyTel last week, saying they had repeatedly failed to supervise SIM card outlets as well as their authorized dealers, according to a PTD official who requested anonymity.
“The department instructed them to sell the SIM cards only after they were registered correctly. But the operators are failing to prevent sales [of unregistered SIM cards] and that’s why the department fined them,” the official explained.
Telecom operators have been instructed to register SIM cards when consumers purchase them at their outlets, but they have been unable to fully regulate sales of new preregistered SIM cards, which are widely available.
Fining telecom operators is not a new punishment. The civilian government of the National League for Democracy (NLD) also fined operators the same amount for the same violation of SIM card registration rules.
The PTD started enforcing the registration rule under the NLD government in August 2016, saying it wanted to secure mobile financial services, protect public safety, and replace damaged or lost SIM cards for registered users. It imposed a heavy fine on all operators once. In another case, the PTD imposed a heavy fine on military-backed telecom operator Mytel in July 2019. The PTD fined Mytel 300 million kyats (about US$ 197,800 at the time) for violating the Pricing and Tariff Regulatory Framework by offering free SIM cards.
There is widespread fear that the junta is trying to consolidate control over the country’s mobile service providers by forcing all users to register their SIMs, putting activists, opposition members, and journalists at greater risk of surveillance.
“Registering SIM cards is a process necessary for a government to prevent crimes or any other abuses through the use of unregistered SIM cards. People understand it. But it’s required to educate people well, and it needs the voluntary cooperation of millions of people,” said a Yangon-based telecom professional.
The regime is issuing warnings via state-owned media and sending short messages to push people into registering their SIM cards. The warnings tell users that if they fail to register their SIM card within a specified timeframe, the PTD will terminate their phone numbers.
To register a SIM card, a user needs to present identification, such as a national registration card, student identity card, or driving license, to an operator, while foreign nationals need to show a passport and copies of the identification document, as well as a local address.
