/ 14 October 2010

Rica: You need to register your 3G SIM card, too

Like many people, I rely heavily on my Vodafone 3G connection.

As an M-Web customer, I have been receiving regular emails about making sure my 3G modem’s SIM has been verified in terms of the Rica process. However, I mistakenly believed that taking it to a Vodashop, as with my cellphone SIM, would complete the Rica process.

“Your SIM has already been registered,” I was told at my nearest Vodashop.

“Great!” I thought, even though I was puzzled — had M-Web registered me automatically?

Of course, I continued to get emails came from M-Web, telling me to hurry up and register. So I phoned them to find out what to do.

And this is something that customers should be aware of — you need to register with your service provider, not with the cellphone company itself. In my case, as an M-Web client, I will need to go to Shoprite/Checkers and take my MSISND number with me.

New clients are automatically taken through the Rica process, but old clients — like myself — need to be proactive and register where the service provider stipulates.

Logical, perhaps — but how many of us know this?