[DIGITAL Business Africa] – The Telecommunications and Postal Authority draws the attention of telephone operators to the subject of subscriber identification. Through a press release signed on January 16, 2025 by the CEO of the ARTP, Dahirou Thiam, the ARTP indicates that the identification of subscribers at the time of subscribing to an electronic communication service is not always respected by the distributors and operators’ points of sale. The regulator is taking advantage of this situation to remind stakeholders of the legal provision which serves as a compass for the identification of mobile telephone subscribers. In particular, article 36 of law no. 2018-28 of December 13, 2018 relating to the electronic communications code.
“Operators identify all users of their electronic communications services at the time of subscribing to the services they provide and retain data likely to enable their identification.”
This call to order is obviously aimed at mobile telephone operators and their commercial partners including Sonatel (Orange), Saga Africa Holding Limited (YAS), Expresso, CSU (HAYO), Sirius Télécom (Promobile).
The ARTP reminds the conditions of identification for natural persons, legal entities and other organizations.
Natural persons are required to be present at the time the identification is carried out. If not present, the natural person can send a legalized power of attorney. In addition, any subscriber has the right to have a maximum of three SIM cards per mobile operator. Finally, nationals must bring their identity document (valid CNI). ECOWAS nationals must present a valid passport.
-Concerning legal entities and other organizations, they must present a commercial register and a National Identification Number of Companies and Associations (NINEA) for companies. Embassies and other accredited international organizations must present a private law contract.
According to the ARTP report of July 2024 on telecommunications, mobile telephony experienced growth in 2024. The number of mobile telephone lines reached 22,903,394 lines in the first quarter of 2024. This increase of 2.25% corresponds to to 503,189 new mobile telephone lines from operators is attributable to the increase in prepaid (1.66%) and postpaid lines (38.02%).
The mobile penetration rate was estimated at 127.01% in the first quarter of 2024, compared to 124.22% in the third quarter of 2023, an increase of 2.79 percentage points. The number of mobile telephone lines (22,903,394) was greater than the Senegalese population (18,032,473). This is explained by the multi-SIM phenomenon.
By Jean Materne Zambo, source: ARTP
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