March 31, 2024
- As deadline expires
Telecom operators are proceeding to bar calls from phone numbers that are yet to be linked to their National Identity Numbers (NIN) as at Friday, 29 March,The Nation learnt yesterday.
The operators say although they are not unmindful of the financial losses the exercise might bring to them they have to comply with the directive of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on the matter.
The Federal Government had said the linkage was to aid its quest for credible data for national security.
The operators, acting under the aegis of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ALTON), said the Federal Government has given enough timeline for subscribers to link their National Identity Numbers (NINs) with their Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs), adding that the timeline had to end someday.
Chairman of the group, Gbenga Adebayo, in a telephone interview yesterday said the final instruction to disconnect defaulting subscribers has been on since 2022.
He said the fact that the matter lingered this long implied that the operators had about two years to address the matter. He said it would not be right to say the commission has not done enough.
“It wouldn’t be right that we didn’t seek the extension of time,” he said.
“We can’t continue that in perpetuity. We can’t continue to seek for an extension. So what has happened is that efforts have been made in 2022.”
Adebayo could not say the number of SIM cards that would be barred.
According to him, such information would start coming in this week.
“So many subscribers have sent their details and are awaiting confirmation. So it is still a lot of work on the zero hours of 29th of March. So we can start looking at the numbers from Monday to see how many people are affected. So we are still having a lot of attempts to verify the NIN to submit even as we speak,” Adebayo said.
Barring calls implies that subscribers whose SIM cards have not been linked to their NINs will not be allowed to make calls until the linkage is done.
The NCC insisted that the directive for disconnection is being rolled out in stages, with the second phase set for 29 March as earlier announced.
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It said the initial phase took place at the end of February.
“We issued a publication that you can refer to. We specified certain deadlines and stipulated that subscribers who do not comply with the directive would be barred. And that has not changed.
“29th of February was when those that have not submitted their NIN to be linked to the SIM to be barred and those that have been barred.
“We published another deadline for those who have submitted their NIN but it failed because it has not been verified, that is the one that is due for disconnection today. While another set is the ones with ghost verification, these are for those who have more than five numbers.”
The Commission’s objective is to clean the country’s SIM ownership database and enhance homeland security, it was gathered.
“The commission is committed to ensuring that criminals do not take advantage of having multiple unlinked SIMs to carry out their nefarious activities,” an industry expert said.
MTN Nigeria, the largest operator, reported that over 4.2 million lines were disconnected from its network after the February 28 deadline.
The Max-4 rule announced by the Federal Government in April 2021 provided that telecom subscribers cannot have more than four lines per mobile network operator.
The NCC had also provided Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) an extension till 31 July, to verify all NINs submitted by subscribers with four or fewer SIMs, as well as bar those which NINs fail verification with NIMC.
The compulsory linkage began in 2020 when the government directed telecommunication companies to block calls from unregistered and unlinked lines.
The policy was expected to help the authorities in fighting bandits and terrorists who kidnap and kill innocent people daily. Despite the extension of deadlines, many phone lines are yet to be linked.
Last week, the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and the NCC issued a joint statement unveiling a strategic partnership aimed at simplifying the NIN-SIM linkage procedures for telecommunications subscribers nationwide.
Both agencies reaffirmed their dedication to enhancing the processes involved and improving efficiency regarding the NIN and SIM card linkage initiative.
They acknowledged the importance of this initiative in bolstering security measures and enhancing service delivery
