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From Adetutu Folasade-Koyi, Abuja
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has warned that SIM cards not linked with the National Identification Number (NIN), would be cut off by the end of February.
The NCC Director of Compliance, Monitoring and Enforcement, Efosa Idehen, disclosed this at an interactive session with media executives in Abuja, yesterday.
Efosa also stated why it is imperative for Nigerians to link their NIN with their registered (Subscriber Identity/Identification Module) SIM cards.
“Linking the NIN to the SIM card was thought to solve all the issues in the industry because the NIMC has the correct data base of everybody; with captured biometrics.
“What we now found out was that there were loopholes that the people in the value-chain of registration are latching on to compromise the SIM database.
“Recently, we issued, through an enforcement notice, to take out all the SIMs that do not have NIN attached to them, and those that have not been verified, probably by the end of this month, you’ll find that such SIMs would no longer work because they have NIN attached to them.
“We are also going to collaborate with OTT because we also found out that people just buy the SIM, and use it to download WhatsApp, Telegram, etc.
“What they want is just the SIM number and then, migrate it into the OTT platform and use a WhatsApp that doesn’t need the SIM, throw away the SIM and begin to use those as communication tools. If they ask you to provide the data, it’s no longer there.
“We are going to work collaboratively with OTT to tackle that challenge. As the EVC said, our job is to collaborate with all those that are in the value-chain to see that they get value for Nigerians.”
On security challenges relating to kidnappings across the country, Idehen promised that the challenges would soon be resolved.
“Yes, we provide the platform, telecoms provides platform for so many things and security is one of them. As the EVC said, there are things security agencies do with telecoms; that are supposed to resolve some issues but there are challenges and hopefully, in the not too distant time, all these would be resolved.
“The issue of SIM would be resolved soon but not 100 percent. It would be reduced drastically by the time we remove all the SIMs that are not properly registered. When the OTT asks you to revalidate, because they send an OTP to your SIM and you are no longer with that SIM, you will not see the OTP. So, that would help us to find out those that are using illegal SIMs.”
Earlier, the NCC Executive Vice Chairman, Aminu Waida, assured on consumer protection as it concerns tariffs and that of licensees with regards to regulations.
“On our part, there are certain things we need to put in place; the right regulations to certify things. As I said, the tariff is one area. We are working collaboratively with the industry. At the heart of my strategy, we need to put a smile on the consumer’s face. There are regulatory tools that we can use. We can sanction. The NCA Act is clear. We are out there to protect the interest of the consumers and the interest of licensees because this is a market where we need to attract investments to make sure that it grows,” Waida said.
