Telecom sector regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), yesterday stopped telecom service providers from further barring of subscribers’ telephone lines.
It ordered immediate reactivation of lines disconnected at the weekend due to National Identity Number (NIN)/ Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) verification non-compliance.
It said in a statement that the directive had become imperative considering the number of times the commission had reviewed the NIN/SIM issues and the need to give consumers enough time to meet deadlines.
NCC urged telecom companies to immediately restore lines disconnected over the weekend and allow consumers to sort their verification issues out within the period granted by the government.
The statement by Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka, reads: “Over the weekend many telecom subscribers/consumers were unable to access their phone lines because of the inability of many telecom consumers to verify their National Identification Numbers (NINs) with their Subscriber Identification Modules (SIMs).
“This meant that their numbers were blocked by their telecom service providers in keeping with laws and policies of the NIN-SIM linkage.
“The compulsory linkage of NIN with SIM began in December 2020 when the government directed telecommunication companies to bar unregistered SIM cards and SIMs that were not linked to NIN.
“Since December 2023, the Commission has since reviewed the deadline a few times; April 15, 2024, was set as the deadline for the full network barring subscribers with four or fewer SIMs that had unverified NIN details.
“This deadline was then reviewed to July 31, 2024, to give consumers more time to ensure their submitted NIN details are properly verified. Despite these extensions, many phone lines are yet to be linked with verified NINs.
