It revealed that a number of mobile providers were selling unregistered Sim cards in violation of local regulations. Minister for Works, Transport and Technology Makame Mbarawa said a number of people were using mobile phones despite having not registered with any mobile operator or registering under fake names, warning that practice were illegal, The Guardian reported.

Mbarawa said mobile service providers had to address the problem immediately before it inconvenienced consumers. He said the government would revoke licences of service providers who did not follow the rules or conduct their affairs according to the licence terms. In July 2009 the government introduced SIM card registration under which consumers were required to register their cards before use.

According to the minister, the number of Sim cards has rapidly increased, from 2.96 million in 2005 to 39.81 million in December 2015. He added that the number of internet users had increased from 1 million in 2005 to almost 17.3 million in December last year. The minister also noted that 94 per cent of all internet users (16.3 million) used mobile phones to access internet service.

Telecompaper.com