Reader question: Why do I have to register my SIM card?

I understand that this is thought to prevent terrorist attacks, because pre-paid phones are sometimes used for bombs (especially in the south). Criminals could also be traced more easily this way.
Personally, I doubt it will help much, and so I think of the government's motives.

it's true we have registered our SIM card because we
go to thailand once a year and my husband needs a landline number for a hospital in NL
we immediately upgraded it for a year costs 10 bath per month + so until 2-03-2016 we can use it and next year the same thing
wallt in july the number would have gone differently
now it remains a fixed number

The Netherlands is one of the western countries where registration of a prepaid SIM card is not yet mandatory. The reason for registration has nothing to do with the possibility of detonating a bomb remotely using a mobile phone as an ignition mechanism.

Governments, in the US and Europe in particular, store conversations and data from all mobile traffic in order to use it against people who may be committing illegal acts. Calls and data using an unregistered SIM card are of no use because they cannot be traced back to a specific person. You can do that with registration.

A mobile phone permanently searches for a nearest antenna mast. This is registered by the provider. By consulting this data, it is possible to determine approximately where the user was at a certain moment and, moreover, to map out a complete route. This can only be prevented by completely switching off the phone.

An example of this was the man who robbed his sons from Zeist. Part of the road traveled with his sons could no longer be checked after he turned off his phone. He was well aware of this because the boys' mother is a policewoman. If the father's SIM card was not registered or the telephone number was otherwise unknown, then it was a search for a needle in a haystack.

Whether registration really makes sense is doubtful. Someone who really wants to go wrong will make sure that he (or she) cannot be tracked by registration. As long as prepaid SIM cards are sold without registration anywhere in the world, criminals and terrorists can do their thing.

Incidentally, a SIM card can also be removed from the phone. The phone will then still work and will still search for the nearest cell tower. The IMEI number of the phone is sent along with the search signal. As a result, the Ministry of Justice knows where a certain telephone was at that moment.