•Telcos lose over six million subscribers in January
Barring unforeseen circumstances, telecommunications operators are to begin the second and third phases of disconnection of unlinked Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards from March 29 on the order of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
Specifically, the exercise, which started February 28, would see 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.
According to information gathered at the weekend, while operators have appealed to NCC for extension, the regulator is not contemplating that for now.
The Guardian learnt that during the February 28 disconnections, 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.
In a startling revelation, an NCC document sighted by The Guardian 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.
Meanwhile, the quartet of MTN, Airtel, Globacom and 9mobile lost over six million subscribers in January, apparently due to the NIN-SIM linkage.
Active subscription for mobile services in Nigeria, for instance, declined from 224.4 million as of December 2023 to 218 million by January, according to the latest industry data released by the NCC at the weekend.
With the decline in actively connected lines recorded by the operators, the country’s teledensity, which measures the number of active telephone connections per 100 inhabitants living within an area, also dipped to 100.75 in January this year from 103.66 per cent recorded last December.
Analysis of the industry data showed that MTN lost 7.2 million subscriptions in the month under review. The company’s total active subscription, which stood at 87 million in December 2023, plunged to 79.7 million a month after.
Recall that MTN recently disclosed that it has disconnected 4.2 million lines following on account of the NCC’s directive.
Since December it has subjected 19 million lines to verification.
Out of these, the firm said 4.3 million have been verified and 4.2 million disconnected as of February 28 this year.
On the other hand, Airtel and Globacom recorded marginal growth during the period.
Airtel gained 767,887 subscriptions. This pushed up its database to 62.6 million in January from 61.8 million in December.
Globacom also achieved increased subscription, as its database grew by 321,869 to 61.9 million from 61.6 million in December.
However, the fourth mobile operator, 9mobile, witnessed decline in the month. Its subscription fell by 135,788 to 13.7 million in January.
