NCC Set To Disconnect More Than 65 Million Nigeria SIM Card
Due to telecom operators’ refusal to give users a grace period for the National Identity Number-Subscriber Identity Module linkage deadline, around 65 million phone lines could be disconnected.
The Nigeria Communications Commission, the telecom regulator, anticipated that no SIM card will remain active without a confirmed NIN starting on September 15 after the final deadline expired on September 14, 2024.
An estimated one million lines could not have been linked between the NCC’s deadline announcement and the actual cut-off date, meaning that roughly 65 million lines are still at risk.
According to data from the telecom authority for March 2024, there were 219 million active lines connected to NINs across major networks like MTN, Glo, Airtel, and 9mobile.
This indicates that following the NCC’s deadline notice, roughly 66 million lines were disconnected from NIN. The disconnection process is currently underway, as revealed by Gbenga Adebayo, Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria, who rejected the notion of a deadline extension when speaking with The PUNCH on Monday.
“Even on the day of the deadline, people were still linking their SIMs, so it’s difficult to provide exact numbers for the lines disconnected so far, but it’s certainly less than 66 million,” stated Adebayo.
He declared that mobile carriers were following the NCC’s guidelines, calling the deadline “reasonable and acceptable.”
With the words, “We can’t keep extending deadlines and going back and forth on this issue,” Adebayo pleaded with subscribers to comply.
These data are essential for the development of the country, and this is a national issue. Nonetheless, the NCC was persuaded to extend the deadline by the National Association of Telecoms Subscribers.
The association’s president, in an interview with The PUNCH, urged the NCC to extend the deadline to September 22 so that customer experience centers may remain open during the long weekend.
According to him, subscribers will be able to use the NIN portal to fix any registration-related problems and prevent any possible interruptions to telecom services.
“It’s only just that the NCC permits subscribers to make up for the lost time, considering the technical issues with the NIN portal that lasted for nearly a week prior and the enhancements made last week.
He stated that this extension will provide subscribers the much-needed breathing room to work out any registration kinks.
Just two weeks prior, many users were complaining about poor speeds and congestion on the NIMC portal, prompting Adeolu Ogungbanjo, President of the National Association of Telecommunications users, to voice concern over difficulties connecting NIN to SIM cards.
References and Citation
punchng.com – SIM-NIN linkage: 65 million GSM lines risk disconnection
nigeriacommunicationweek.com.ng – Over 65m GSM Lines Risk Disconnection over SIM-NIN Linkage
moneycentral.com.ng – SIM-NIN Linkage: 65 million GSM Lines Risk Disconnection
businessday.ng – Telcos commence blocking of phone lines without NIN
