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| Gbenga Adebayo, ALTON chairman |
The operators under the aegis of the Association of
Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) made this known at a press
conference in Lagos, last Friday.
The initial deadline for the exercise which commenced on
February this year is September 28, 2011, which is a six-month duration.
Chairman of ALTON, Mr. Gbenga Adebayo said this has become
imperative to ensure that majority of Nigerians register their SIMs.
Currently, he said, an estimated 50 per cent of the total
subscriber-base has been registered.
“The Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of
Nigeria (ALTON) wishes to inform you that the nationwide Subscriber Identity
Module (SIM) registration exercise and the sale and activations of one way
SIMs, which started on February 14th 2011, has so far seen the successful
registration of over 50 percent of the total subscribers in the country,” he
said.
According to him, the exercise has enabled telecom
operators, with support from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), to
capture relevant biometric data of subscribers which include full names, age
and date of birth, occupation, business, postal and residential addresses,
finger prints, portrait photographs and alternative numbers.
He pointed out that with the successes recorded so far,
Nigeria is well on its way to having a comprehensive data base of
telecommunications subscribers.
“This data base which is highly secured to protect the
identities of subscribers, would serve as a very valuable resource that would
enhance security and national planning in the Nigeria,” he said.
He noted that telecom operators have continued to engage in
aggressive marketing campaigns to enlighten the public on the need to register
their SIMs.
“ALTON members have also rolled out various rewards and
incentive schemes designed to encourage and attract subscribers to register
their SIMs,” he declared, stressing that ALTON also acknowledges the pivotal
role the NCC and its leadership have played in this exercise without which
these successes would not have been recorded.
Adebayo, who was accompanied at the briefing by some members
of the ALTON Executive Committee, including the publicity secretary, Mr. Damain
Udeh, Mr. Gbenga Onakomaiya and Secretariat Administrator, Mr. Gbolahan Awonuga
among others, stated that whilst the exercise has recorded significant success
up to now, “it must be mentioned that project has been beset with enormous
challenges each one of which has had a significant impact on the outcome the
exercise.”
These challenges, he highlighted to include but not limited
to general logistics challenges like the ability of SIM registrations agents to
access certain parts of the country, especially the hinterland and rural areas,
the conduct of 2011 general elections in most parts of the country, the post
elections violence, torrential rainfall and resultant devastating flooding in
various parts of the country.
He said that there was a general lull in activities
resulting from Christian lent and Muslim Ramadan during which a period of
fasting and religious reflection was observed by millions of Nigerians.
Other challenges that negatively impacted on the progress of
the exercise, he said, comprised of the heightened threats to security such as
the spate of bombings across the country, ongoing violence and threat to lives
in certain parts of the country and the general insecurity in many parts.
“These challenges have made it impossible to achieve a 100
per cent success rate within the period stipulated by the federal government,”
he said.
Pointing out that even without these challenges, the
deadline of the 28th of September 2011 is too short for a project as enormous
as the SIM registration in Nigeria, a country with over 90 million telecoms
subscribers.
Emphasising that in many other countries, especially on the
continent, where the same exercise have been done, significant time were given
to enable operators effectively conclude the exercise.
“For example, Malaysia with a total population of 27.5
million people took a total of 24 months to conclude the SIM registration
exercise; while South Africa, with a population of about 50 million, took 18 months
to register all subscribers. Other countries like Tanzania, Sierra Leone,
Algeria and Ghana had their registrations exercises extended. Yet most of these
countries have significantly lower population sizes and smaller landmasses than
Nigeria,” Adebayo explained.
As the September 28 deadline, approaches, he said, ALTON
wishes to call on the Federal Government and the NCC to extend the exercise to
enable subscribers who are not registered to do so.
“The extension has become necessary in order to prevent a
widespread panic and insecurity that will most likely occur if the estimated 50
per cent of subscribers that are not yet registered are excluded from the
registration process,” he said.
In addition, he said, attempts to disconnect such a large
number of subscribers would create last minute rush and consequently cripple
the operators thereby causing a major systemic crisis.
As a result, ALTON, he said, made this call for an extension
in the interest of public safety, national security, societal cohesion and the
overall well being of the Nigerian subscribers.
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