Technology & IT | Friday 5 August, 2016 8:13 am |

The Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) announced on Wednesday that mobile phone numbers without fingerprint registration would be disconnected as of yesterdat (Thursday).

All types of subscribers, including post-paid, pre-paid and data SIM, who did not register their fingerprints will be affected by the move, the Saudi Press Agency reported quoting a commission statement.

The commission said the subscriber could restore the service by authenticating the numbers with fingerprint registration within 90 days of disconnection. The CITC had earlier set the deadline for fingerprint registration of mobile phone consumers of all service providers in the Kingdom on July 20 (Shawwal 15). It thanked all subscribers who validated their SIM cards through fingerprinting.

The subscribers can ensure whether their numbers have been validated by sending text messages to their respective service providers. Text messages shall be sent to the following numbers of service providers. STC – 900 (9988), Mobily – 616166, Zain – 700123, Virgin Mobile -309985, and Lebara – ID 1755.

The CITC announced the decision last year but its implementation was delayed several times because some mobile service operators in the Kingdom required time to obtain fingerprint registration devices from abroad. The decision was based on the Ministry of Interior’s request to ensure information of SIM cardholders are protected and to prevent people from obtaining mobile phone connections through fraudulent means.