Saudi Arabian operator Mobily has revealed a net loss for Q4 2016, which it put down to the cost of implementing a government requirement for SIMs to be registered with fingerprints.

Reuters reports Mobily, which is part-owned by Etisalat, recorded a loss of around $19 million, having managed a small profit in the year-ago quarter. This was still better than expected by Reuters’ panel of analysts.

The government initiative that required all new SIMs to be registered with a fingerprint was announced at the start of 2016 and appears to be primarily a security measure, and to prevent the acquisition of SIMs using false identities. By the middle of last year the Saudi Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) announced it was obliging operators to disconnect any SIMs that were not registered with a fingerprint.

A result of all this has been a reduction in the number of subscribers in Saudi Arabia, although the population penetration is still well in excess of 100% – i.e. the average person has more than one subscription.

This isn’t the only upheaval Mobily is currently having to endure. Late last year the management agreement between Mobily and Etisalat, which owns 27% of the company expired and has yet to be renewed. At the start of this year Mobily appointed Ahmed Abdelsalam as its new Chief Exec, possibly with the intention of going it alone from now on.