Blocked Lines Rise to 40 Million Over SIM-NIN Linkage

No fewer than forty million telephone lines have been barred by telecommunication operators over the weekend following the expiration of the February 28, 2024 deadline issued by the Nigerian Communications Commission mandating telecom consumers to link the Subscriber Identity Module to their National Identity Numbers.

This represents a twenty million increase from the twelve million telephone lines initially planned to be deactivated by telcos, following the NCC directive.

In a December 2023 notice, the NCC had asked telcos to bar SIMs that had not been linked to their owners’ NINs by February 28, 2024.

Last Thursday, the NCC Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Mouka, ruled out an extension of the deadline, warning that telcos that failed to enforce the deadline would be sanctioned.

The Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria, Gbenga Adebayo, then confirmed that telcos would bar twelve million lines as a result of the directive.

Yesterday, the ALTON chair revealed that the number of barred lines had risen to forty million, pointing out that SIMs without NIN were included in the number.