Disconnected lines may hit 50m as visits overwhelm NIMC, MNOS’ facilities
Subscribers in panic mode, flood enrolment outlets ALTON rallies industry as Internet outage compounds woes NCC gives MNOS till July 31st 2024 to complete verification
DISCONNECTED Subscribers Identification Module ( SIM) cards as a result of unverified National Identification Number ( NIN) may hit 50 million from the second phase of the disconnection of unlinked SIMS to NIN exercise, which begins today , March 29.
According to checks, mobile network operators ( MNOS) are expected to bar subscribers with five SIMS and above, linked to unverified NINS.
In the last disconnection exercise, carried out on February 28, some 40 million lines were barred. A breakdown showed that 17 million SIMS, which have been consistently active for three months but failed to submit NINS were barred. Also, 23 million SIMS, which had not been active in the last year and without NINS were barred completely.
The Chairman of the Association of Licenced Telecoms Operators of Nigeria ( ALTON), Gbenga Adebayo, in a chat with The Guardian yesterday, said the impact of the second phase of the exercise would be massive, saying cumulatively, about 50 million SIMS may be affected, inclusive of the earlier 40 million already disconnected.
Adebayo said: “I don’t have an outright figure as we speak, but it will be safe to say that by the time we add these numbers to the disconnection bucket, we will go over 40 million, it might be nearing the 50 million mark. The reality is that the disconnection now will have more impact than the first set.
“Don’t forget that those who have been disconnected prior are those without NIN at all. These new categories are those who have submitted NINS but have not been verified. It means that you may have some very active subscribers, who in their way have done what they think is everything they should do but their lines may still be disconnected because NINS have not been verified with their SIM records.”
According to him, the fact is that data submitted by a subscriber during the SIM registration exercise ( secondar y data) must align with data submitted for the NIN database ( Primary data), that is what the authority is saying.
He explained: “If in the SIM register, y ou ha ve Wale
Adekunle but during NIN registration, y ou put in
Adewale Adekunle, such a person would ha ve issues.
His information woul d be flagged and he will need to go and correct that at both the SIM database and NIN registration for us to be sure he’s the same person. So many other instances like that, including those, who sent pro xies to register SIMS for them, will be flagged. It is going to be a long thin, but the database needs to be thorough.”