Egypt Moves Biometric SIM Verification Into Mobile Operator Apps

Egypt’s National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority is moving to add biometric identity verification to mobile operators’ apps as part of a wider effort to prevent SIM cards from being registered under the wrong person’s name.

The regulator is working with Egypt’s four mobile network operators on the new process. Customers will be able to use an operator application to verify their identity, providing a remote alternative to completing every check at a retail branch.

The plan also addresses existing lines whose registration details do not match the person using them. Operators are expected to send text messages directing affected customers to a branch, where the actual holder will sign a new contract and bring the subscriber record into line with the person controlling the SIM.

A line that is not regularized within the period set by the operator may be permanently deactivated. The regulator also plans to give customers a way to manage lines recorded under their identity but no longer in their possession, a common source of risk when a mobile number is used to open accounts or receive authentication codes.

Egypt already requires operators to verify official identity documents when selling SIM cards and applies separate rules to replacements and SIM swaps. Adding an app-based biometric check extends those controls into a remote channel while the contract-remediation process deals with older or improperly transferred lines.

Other regulators have paired biometric registration with audits of subscriber records. Nigeria’s communications regulator, for example, deployed a biometric SIM registration audit system to identify incomplete and inconsistent records across operators.

Pakistan has likewise expanded biometric SIM verification to close gaps involving transferred or misregistered lines. The underlying concern is that a phone number can become a practical identity credential when banks, government services and online accounts rely on it for recovery or one-time codes.

Sources: Egypt Independent, National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority

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By the ID Tech Editorial Team