Listers,  

 

More than 2.4 million unregistered SIM cards switched off

 

The four local mobile operators have to date switched off more than 2.4 million unregistered SIM cards.

 

According to statistics gathered from mobile operators, a total of 2,408,266 unregistered mobile lines had, by January 8, been switched off, barely a week after the expiry of the December 31 deadline.

 

Safaricom has disconnected a total of 1.2 million unregistered SIM cards. Orange and Airtel have disconnected 520,000 and 365,266 unregistered lines, respectively. YuMobile on the other hand has switched off 323,000 SIM cards.

 

Subscribers whose lines have been switched off have up to 90 days to register their SIM cards, failing which their mobile numbers will be withdrawn permanently and subsequently reassigned to new users. 

 

Below is disaggregated data on the switch off:

 

Operator	Registered Subscribers		Suspended Subscribers
	28th Dec 2012	8th Jan 2013	28th Dec 2012	8th Jan 2013
Airtel	3,877,475	4,347,765	70,830	365,266
Orange	2,106,250	2,160,873	120,010	520,000
Safaricom	17,200,000	17,290,000	800,000	1,200,000
YuMobile	2,353,106	2,440,000	290,000	323,000
Total	25,536,831	26,238,638	1,280,840	2,408,266