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IEA bans telecommunication companies from distributing unregistered SIM cards
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) has banned telecommunication companies from issuing SIM cards to the public without them being registered.
Inamullah Samangani, the deputy spokesman for the IEA, said in a tweet on Monday that according to a cabinet decision, telecommunication companies will not be allowed to distribute unregistered SIM cards.
The cabinet has instructed the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, which operates under the control of the IEA, to address the issue.
The former government also had regulations in place that all SIM card owners had to be registered. However, the rules were not always adhered to.
There are four private and one state-run mobile phone companies in Afghanistan which collectively service about 22 million mobile phone clients and over 5 million internet subscribers, according to official sources.