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Why over 40m SIMs would be barred, by NCC, telcos

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and telecom operators yesterday explained why over 40 million subscriber identity modules (SIMs) would have to go and ruled out the possibility of all the barred numbers coming back into active service to their previous owners.

Recall that the NNC had via a December 15, 2023 letter, directed mobile network operators (MNOs) to implement full network barring on all SIMs for which the subscribers have not submitted their National Identity Numbers (NINs) and those without verified NINs, setting February 28, 2024 as deadline.

The directive came into full implementation last week with operators saying from the look of things, over 40 million SIMs would be affected.

Some subscribers who said they had previously linked their SIMs to their NINs complained that they were affected.

Director of Public Affairs at NCC, Reuben Muoka explained that some SIMs had verification and identification issues such as disparity in information such as names and other data.

He said: “People who probably didn’t get a cleared or verified NIN” have been barred because “the earlier ones they submitted were not good. There are still some subscribers whose NINs are yet to be verified by NIMC and those have to also be corrected,” he said.

He said subscribers will have to visit the outlets of their service providers to validate their NINs and resolve other matters.

“For now, it requires those physical visits to the stations to get it verified and validated but in the future, we hope that this will be done virtually.

“Take it that everybody who has not submitted his NIN to the service providers has been barred. Actually, the service providers are starting to bar people many days before the deadline,” he said.

Muoka, however, said it will be difficult to tell the actual number of phone lines that have been barred but the NCC will do an audit before the end of the week as data is expected from service providers.

Speaking during a telephone interview yesterday, the MNOs said by the end of this month, the full impact of the exercise would be felt in the industry.

Acting under the aegis of Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), the group said the figure it gave included those that have been barred and those that would be barred.

The group Chairman, Gbenga Adebayo said those complaining should blame themselves for the glitches.

“Those complaining of previously linking their SIM with their NIN and getting barred had issues with information supplied in their primary identity and secondary identity. If for instance, a subscriber had given his first name as last name in his primary data (SIM registration) and had gone ahead to make his last name as first name in secondary data (NIN), the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) that would very the data would ask questions as to why the disparity existed. Similarly, if a subscriber had identified himself as a driver while registering for a SIM card and identified himself as an architect while registering for NIN, of course you expect NIMC to ask questions,” he said.

Muoka, who spoke on Tv programme, said the NIN-SIM linkage has an objective which is to make Nigerians have digital identity to tackle security matters.

“The whole essence is actually to achieve the convenience that digital services and products will offer. By the time you have your identity together you will be able to attend to a number of things.

"Even the banks are now asking their customers to link their NINs to their Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs). It is actually to make a holistic package of all your digital services,” he stated.