PNG finalizes rules linking SIM cards to SevisPass digital ID

Papua New Guinea is finalizing new SIM registration rules that will require mobile numbers to be linked to the holder’s SevisPass national digital ID.

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Secretary, Steven Matainaho, made the announcement recently during a US Embassy event in Port Moresby.

The National Information and Communications Technology Authority concluded consultations on the draft SIM Card Registration (Amendment and Consolidation) Regulation in March. The proposed framework requires adult subscribers to use SevisPass for SIM registration and electronic KYC, with operators connecting through the SevisDEx interoperability platform.

Matainaho said users will have 12 months to link their SIM cards to SevisPass once the regulation is endorsed.

The move is part of an ongoing drive to expand the SevisPass, which is already being used to support financial services through the SevisWallet, including opening bank accounts. The government has also announced plans to link the wallet with the electoral roll to make it possible for citizens to check their status on the electoral register.

Worldwide push for SIM registration

PNG joins a wider push to strengthen SIM registration as governments respond to identity fraud, scams and the circulation of fraudulently registered numbers.

Such is the case in the Philippines, where a proposal by the country’s National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group is being considered to strengthen existing SIM card registration requirements. According to the proposal reported by ABS-CBN, registering a SIM card would require the physical presence of the person. The police argue that the changes are needed because the existing requirements have not sufficiently prevented crime, with scams and the circulation of pre-registered SIM cards still rife in the country.

In Pakistan, officials are considering adding iris biometrics to SIM card registration after they concluded that the existing system, which relies on fingerprint-based verification, has failed to prevent identity theft. It is a similar scenario in South Africa, where the country is overhauling its SIM registration framework to combat identity fraud, with plans to introduce real-time identity verification.

Egypt is also expanding its SIM card regime with the introduction of facial recognition verification before a user can obtain a new SIM card. The move there was particularly triggered by a high-profile criminal case that exposed weaknesses in the country’s SIM registration process.

Are biometrics enough for telecom IDV?

The changes also come as telecom operators and regulators confront more sophisticated identity fraud. FICO’s Fernando Lopez recently argued that selfie-only verification is increasingly vulnerable to deepfakes and synthetic identities, and that telecom IDV should combine biometrics with document, device and network signals.

 The proposed PNG framework also changes how biometric data is handled. Telcos would no longer store raw biometrics, instead relying on SevisPass tokens for identity verification through the national digital ID infrastructure.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  identity verification  |  national ID  |  Papua New Guinea  |  SevisPass  |  SIM card registration  |  telecom