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The National Security Secretariat, in the latter part of last year, issued a warning to all mobile telephone service operators in the country to register all SIM cards of their customers by the end of 2009, which was not complied with. But Director General of the National Communications Authority, Mr. Bernard Forson, explained that the inability of the authority to follow up the directive was to ensure adequate preparation. Many countries, particularly in the Third World, have attempted the process but have failed in one way or another and this is what has informed the NCA to carefully study the issues to be able to execute the process. But although Mr. Forson said the NCA would first begin a massive educational programme this month to sensitize the public on the benefits of the exercise, this has still not begun, which is a source of consternation to us on The Ghanaian Observer. This is because we are already in the final week of the month of January and the media, which the NCA Director General said will be used to inform the public about the implications of the registration of SIM cards by service providers is rather engendering heated debates and sometimes becoming sources of utter confusion and fear for SIM card users. Even though we do not subscribe to a rush to get all SIM card users register their chips as this may backfire, we are of the view that the public more than ever needs to be told what they stand to gain from registering their SIMs and educated on why that has become very necessary. The NCA can do this as the service providers ready themselves adequately for the exercise to take off. Adequate education will also dispel any fear and doubts that mobile phone users may be harbouring now and make them accommodate the decision to register their SIM cards for their own good. The populace is currently split on the importance on the exercise, with one part agreeing with the directive to service providers to register SIMs of all their customers, while the other part believe national security has no business in the exercise to let alone instruct telecommunication companies to register all their customers, albeit mandatorily. We already have reports that in Tanzania, the process to register SIMs has been moving very slowly according to reports from the regulator in that country as a result of mistrust, while in South Africa, the lead players are reported to have had a dramatic slow-down in customer growth because of the promulgation of the SIM car law. GO believes both countries are having such experiences because effective education was not done but rather misconceptions were allowed to be fueled, which brought about the mistrust and shying away from SIM cards. We thus urge Mr. Bernard Forson and his team to take the bull by the horns and do the right thing without further delay so the registration of SIM cards does not become an exercise in futility. He has already stated that the rationale for this new regulation is that it will enhance security, help eliminate fraud and crime, and improve upon the risk environment of businesses, redounding to the ultimate benefit of the ordinary subscriber who shall be better able to reclaim lost numbers, link their phone numbers to other commercial accounts, and enjoy the peace of mind that comes with knowing that their lines are secure.