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Ministry lifts cap on cellphone numbers
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Cellular shop owners protest the Communications and Information Ministry’s regulation on limiting ownership of cellphone numbers to three per person in Malang on April 2. (JP/Aman Rochman)
T
he Communications and Information Ministry has lifted the restriction on cellphone numbers from three per person to unlimited following protests from shop owners.
Communications and Information Minister Rudiantara issued a letter, which was distributed to telecommunication service providers, to lift the cap on cellphone numbers per citizenship identity number (NIK), kompas.com reported.
The government previously issued a regulation that required all cellphone owners to register their numbers along with their NIK. The ministry then proceeded to issue a regulation restricting the ownership of cellphone numbers to three per person
The previous regulation stated that while one NIK may have more than three cellphone numbers, the telecommunication providers should file a report once every three months on NIKs that were registered to multiple numbers.
Cellphone shop owners protested the regulation, which they said had killed off their livelihood. Previously, the Indonesia Cellular Trade Association (KNCI) said the regulation had decreased their income to 80 percent.
The ministry, in the past few months, has continued to change the regulations on cellphone number registration, which have caused confusion among cellphone owners and stores alike. (dwa)
