March 25, (THEWILL)- Telecommunications operators in Nigeria are to begin the second and third phases of disconnection of unlinked Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards from March 29.
The exercise, which started on February 28, on the order of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), would see telecom operators bar subscribers with five SIMs and above linked to unverified NINs, while from April 15, players would disconnect customers with four SIMs and below, whose NINs are not ascertained.
Chairman of the Association of Licenced Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), and spokesperson for Telcos, Gbenga Adebayo, had told newsmen during the February 28 exercise that the final phase of disconnection would commenced March 29.
THEWILL learnt that during the February 28 disconnection, where some 40 million lines were barred, 17 million SIMs, which have been active for three months but failed to submit NINs, were barred. Also, 23 million SIMs, which have not been active in the last one year and without NINs, were totally barred.
An NCC document sighted by THEWILL revealed that there were several subscribers with 100 SIMs. Also in another case, more than 10,000 SIMs associated with a single NIN, unverified and identities of users that could not be ascertained were discovered.
The regulator observed that some agents lure unsuspected subscribers with a N10,000 fee to undertake multiple registrations.
