Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel - the National Mobile Services Provider has announced its Registration/Re-Registration scheme of its subscribers. This is in response to a directive made by the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL), that all mobile phone subscribers be registered with their respective network and prove ownership of the Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) in their possession whenever they are requested to do so by the security forces or police personnel.

All Mobitel subscribers are provided with the facility to register or re-register at any of the 65 Mobitel Centres by producing the SIM or SIMs in their possession along with their National Identity Card (NIC), valid Passport or Driving License (DL). Each Centre is staffed with trained personnel and equipped with the facility to take a digital photograph of the subscriber which will then be sent to a central database via MMS. Those subscribers, who do not wish to be photographed this way, can bring in their own photograph which will be verified and scanned at the centre and then sent to the database. The children who do not possess a valid proof of identity but, wish to obtain a Mobitel connection or have been using one, can accompany their parents or guardians to the centre and register/re-register SIM under their (parents’ or guardians’) name.

Once the Registration/Re-registration process has been successfully completed, subscribers will be notified via SMS. Anytime thereafter, subscribers can receive the ownership details of their SIM on the phone in the form of a Mobitel Digital Certificate (MDC) by simply dialing #132# from their Mobile Phone. Upon Registration/Re-Registration the subscriber will be issued with a temporary Mobitel Identification Card (MIC) and the arrangements will be made to deliver the permanent MIC to the registered address of the subscriber by post. In the case of a child, the MIC will bear his or her photo and name though the SIM is registered under their parents’ or guardians’ name.

Speaking on the significance of this, Mrs. Leisha De Silva Chandrasena, Chairperson, Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel said, "As the National Mobile Services provider, we have decided to comply 100% with the directive issued by the TRCSL. Thus we will issue a printed ownership certificate which we call Mobitel Identification Certificate or MIC for short, in addition to the Mobitel Digital Certificate which can be easily invoked by the user."

She further added "We see this as an opportunity to encourage Mobitel community to be civic minded and we sincerely hope that they will take it in this spirit and will not consider this as much of an inconvenience" she concluded.

Speaking at the launch, Mr. Suren J. Amarasekera CEO, Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel said "The task of matching a photograph against a subscriber’s physical appearance and then determining its validity will exert great pressure on the front liners, if we leave that in their hands. Thus, we will include a digital photograph of every subscriber in our records irrespective of the fact whether his or her physical appearance matches with the NIC photograph or not. Any subscriber can get his or her photograph at the centre free of charge, or bring in his or her photograph if he or she does not like to be photographed there. The digital photograph of the subscriber - taken at the centre or scanned from the photograph produced by the subscriber, will then be transferred swiftly to a central database with the aid of our super 3.5G HSPA network" he explained. "By doing so, we will eliminate unnecessary usage of paper, photo chemicals, and physical storage space, which we take in the spirit of preserving nature."

"Our focus of this entire exercise had been to take every aspect into consideration and come up with a comprehensive solution, and implement it across the country. As a part of this exercise, we will issue a complete instruction set to all our dealers, distributors and retailers providing step by step information."

Registering/Re-Registering your Mobitel connection is free. All you have to do:

*  Minors to be accompanied by guardian.