Vietnam’s Ministry of Information and Communications is to limit the number of mobile SIM cards that can be registered to one user, reports Vietnam News.

According to a circular outlining the proposals, consumers wanting to have more than three SIM cards will need to register with another network, with three SIM cards permitted per network. The proposal is a measure to manage the number of prepaid mobile subscribers in the market.

Following Viettel’s acquisition of E-Mobile at the beginning of 2012, there are now six mobile operators in Vietnam – Beeline, MobiFone, S-Fone, Vietnamobile, Viettel and Vinaphone – meaning  a theoretical maximum of 18 SIM cards per person.

However, MobiFone deputy general director Nguyen Dinh Chien, said that many SIM cards are used in devices other than mobile phones, such as 3G USBs and notebook computers, meaning five SIM cards per individual should be permitted on each network. Viettel Telecom deputy general director Nguyen Viet Dung agreed that the limit should be more than three SIM cards per person.

The proposals allow for one business to register a maximum of 100 SIM cards. This is to reduce the potential for the SIM cards being resold at a later date.

The Vietnamese market is predicted to have nearly 141 million connections by the end of the first quarter this year with a population of around 90 million. The market has high churn rate, which the government is trying to reduce.