SIM card deactivation, not total withdrawal - NCC

ITRealms:

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has reacted to a spate of complaints following the deactivation of unregistered Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards by operators, as directed recently by the regulator, reports ITRealms.

NCC also said that only those subscribers who registered their SIM cards properly will have them reactivated.

NCC Director, Public Affairs, Mr. Tony Ojobo made this clarification, saying that the Commission has been saturated with inquiries, some of which alluded to the impression that their SIM cards have been withdrawn permanently. 

“This is not the situation,” he declared, adding that “the deactivation exercise and decision was a result of a meeting with the office of National Security Adviser (NSA), the Department of State Service (DSS), the NCC and operators “after which the operators were given one-week to deactivate those unregistered and improperly registered SIM cards.”

The operators were specifically told that those subscribers whose lines were not registered and have not made any effort to register them should be communicated before deactivation.

“So the deactivation of these SIM cards is in line with that meeting. Subscribers who fail to register properly will have their lines deactivated but those who comply will have them reactivated,”Ojobo said.

“Proper registration means a subscriber’s facial pictures properly captured, biometrics/finger prints, valid means of identification, address, among others,” he explained.

Further, Ojobo said that these are part of the security measures to check incessant cases of crimes with the use of the telephone.

“People hide under anonymity to commit crimes because their lines are not registered, but all that has to change as the network operators have been told what to do,” he emphasized.

ITRealms reports that the ultimatum to deactivate unregistered SIM card expired on Tuesday this week.

The operators, he said, were told among others to ensure compliance of all registration with the Data Dictionary, Technical Specifications on Finger prints and facial images and the business rules agreed by all stakeholder.

ITRealms +Remmy Nweke (ITRealms) +ITRealms DSA  
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