The registration deadline for prepaid mobile users, originally set for Sunday 10 November, has been pushed back by one month after a slow response. Authorities, with parliament’s agreement following a multi-agency meeting on Thursday that included the Legal Service, set a new cut-off of Wednesday 10 December.
By Friday afternoon compliance stood at roughly 50 percent, despite an 18-month window since the law was passed. The late surge suggests many users left it to the last moment, while a sizeable share still appears to have neglected, or intentionally avoided, registration.
Operator breakdown
Regulator data provided to Politis shows identification rates of 53 percent for Cyta, 50 percent for Epic, 48 percent for Cablenet and 40 percent for PrimeTel. These figures are about 10 percentage points higher than a week earlier, reflecting intensified efforts and last-minute registrations.
There are around 400,000 active prepaid SIMs, defined as cards used at least once within a six-month period. These include not only phones but also lines used by companies, internet-of-things devices and alarm systems.
Ongoing campaign
Some cards, particularly those bought by tourists or used by criminal actors, are unlikely to be registered, although officials say this is a small minority. Parliament and the regulator have pressed the four operators to intensify their information drives. Over the past week companies have sent alerts even to contract customers, who may also hold prepaid cards for devices, urging them to inform family members such as children, older relatives or foreign workers to register and avoid disconnections. The regulator is continuing its own outreach, mobilising businesses and organisations to send mass notifications.