20110630
Reuters
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African mobile phone operators Vodacom and MTN Group suffered network outages on Thursday, frustrating users who tried to make calls or use the Internet.



The malfunction comes as mobile operators in the country are about to cut off customers who failed to register their SIM cards under a new law.

"We are currently experiencing network issues in some areas. Our engineering team is working hard to resolve the problem," Vodacom, a unit of Britian's Vodafone said in a statement.

Vodacom rival MTN Group said on its Twitter account that it had been hit by a network glitch. No one at the company was immediately available for comment.

Under the new law called the Regulation of Interception of Communication Act, mobile phone sim cards must have been registered by 2200 GMT today to avoid being cut off from the network.

By 1315 GMT, shares in MTN inched up 0.46 percent to 143.46 rand and Vodacom added 0.91 percent to 83.35 rand.