66 Million Lines to be Disconnected as NCC Issues Fresh Deadline to Link NIN-SIM
- The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has given fresh deadlines for Nigerians to link their SIM to NIN
- The commission disclosed that the new deadline is fixed for September 14, 2024, after which any SIM not linked to NIN will cease to operate
- The telecom regulator disclosed that the initiative is critical to national security and cybercrime reduction
Legit.ng’s Pascal Oparada has reported on tech, energy, stocks, investment and the economy for over a decade.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has set September 14, 2024, as the deadline for compulsory linking SIMs to National Identity Numbers (NINs).
About 66.01 million phone lines now risk disconnection if not linked before the deadline.
Source: Getty Images
155 million SIMs successfully linked
In July, telecommunication companies embarked on disconnection of phone lines, leading to a mass outage.
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Many subscribers besieged the offices of the telcos, forcing some of the firms to shut down operations for days.
BusinessDay reports that on Wednesday, August 28, 2024, the NCC reported that about 153 million phone lines have been linked to NINs.
NCC data said Nigeria’s active GSM lines stood at 219.01 million in March this year.
NCC’s issues fresh deadline
The NCC initiated the project in 202o, and by April 2022, about 125 million phone lines had been successfully linked.
Since the first date, the commission has set multiple deadlines, the most recent being announced in December last year.
The NCC noted that all SIMs for which the subscribers have not submitted their NINs will be barred on or before February 28, 2024
The commission later shifted the April deadline to July, but following a public outcry after more telcos barred lines before the deadline of July 31, 2024, the telcos reactivated the lines.
NCC discovers individual with 100,000 SIMs
The NCC stressed that completing the SIM-NIN linking is crucial for security, fraud reduction, and cybercrime prevention and for bolstering greater participation in e-commerce, digital banking, and mobile services.
NCC also revealed that the exercise had led to the discovery of cases where people possess an unusually high SIM card, some exceeding 100,000.
NCC noted that no SIM will operate without a valid NIN beginning September 15, 2024.
NCC sends messages to MTN, Airtel, others on tariff plans
Legit.ng previously reported that the NCC had issued new regulations mandating that telecommunication companies limit the number of tariff plans available to seven.
The NCC said telecom firms are immediately mandated to simplify the complexity of their plans and bundles, limiting the number seven.
The executive vice chairman of the commission, Aminu Maida, stressed the importance of clear, understandable information for consumers, stating that the guidelines seek to boost transparency, improve consumers' knowledge, and enhance fair competition among the licensees.
Proofread by Kola Muhammed, journalist and copyeditor at Legit.ng
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