Based on the number of SIM cards that passed data reconciliation process last year, around 3.5 million subscriptions will be subject to data reconciliation this year. This calculation is strictly an estimate as all service providers offered the option to keep old phone numbers by concluding new contracts and, obviously, subscriptions could have been cancelled and new ones taken out in the natural course of the market. In accordance with the law, data reconciliation needs to be carried out annually on the anniversary of the contract date; however, from 2018 on, this will come at a different date for everybody depending on the date they entered into the contract, meaning that data reconciliation will take place continuously. Therefore, the NMHH expects that data reconciliation with service providers will go more smoothly as opposed to last year when the obligation had a time limit. According to media reports, service providers have already started contacting their customers for data reconciliation purposes or will start to do so during January.

Data reconciliation presented service providers with a new task in 2017. The large number of SIM cards concerned required service providers to make extensive preparations as they had to develop new processes and make their systems suitable for performing data reconciliation. Service providers took on and accomplished this challenging task of notifying their customers of the statutory requirement that had to be performed on a large scale once and were also able to prepare to carry out this task on an on-going basis. To ensure the success of this process, the NMHH, in cooperation with service providers, launched a campaign in the first half of 2017 to raise awareness of data reconciliation among as many consumers as possible.