In compliance with the Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC) directive, telecommunication operators in Nigeria have blocked over 40 million telephone lines following the expiration of the February 28 deadline to link Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards with National Identity Numbers (NINs).
This revelation was made by Gbenga Adebayo, the chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), who disclosed that telcos have adhered to the disconnection notice issued by the NCC.
Adebayo emphasized that the affected customers are those who failed to submit their NINs within the stipulated timeframe. “Over 40 million is what is safe to say,” he added, underscoring the significant number of subscribers who did not comply with the SIM-NIN linkage requirement.
The NCC had mandated telecom operators in December 2023 to implement a complete network barring of all SIMs that had not submitted NINs, with a deadline set for February 28, 2024, for the first phase of disconnections.
MTN Nigeria, one of the prominent telecom companies in the country, revealed in its financial statement that it disconnected approximately 4.2 million lines after the deadline. The company stated, “Several of these lines were low-value subscribers, minimizing the revenue impact.”
This recent mass disconnection follows a previous partial barring of lines in April 2022, during which over 72.77 million active telecom lines were blocked. Despite this, the country witnessed an increase in active telecom lines, reaching 224.21 million by December 2023.
ALTON representatives have expressed concerns that more lines are at risk of being barred by the end of March. The NCC’s directive further stipulates that telcos should bar lines whose NINs have been submitted but not verified by March 29, 2024, and lines with less than five connections linked to unverified NINs by April 15, 2024.
As the deadline looms for additional phases of disconnection, telecom subscribers are urged to ensure compliance with the SIM-NIN linkage requirements to avoid disruption of services.
