In the first half of 2024, MTN Nigeria blocked 8.6 million users from using its services for failing to obey government directives to link their National Identity Numbers (NIN) to their Subscriber Identity Modules (SIM).
The largest mobile provider in the nation said in its half-year financial results for the period ending June 30, 2024, that affected customers were unable to access data services, send messages, or make phone calls.
The report said, “We managed to limit the decline in our base to 280,000, resulting in a 2.9 per cent year-on-year increase in our customers to 79.4 million, despite barring 8.6 million subscribers during H1 in line with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) directive.”
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The NIN-SIM linkage regulation was introduced in 2020 by the telecom regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), to improve national security and curb fraudulent activities.
MTN’s NIN ban fallout and repercussions
The commission reviewed the date for implementing this directive several times until December 2023. The original deadline for excluding subscribers with four or fewer SIMs with unverified NIN information was April 15, 2024.
Later on, though, the deadline was moved to July 31, 2024, to provide customers more time to confirm their NIN information.
Before the deadline, MTN announced that it had banned more customers with fewer than five lines connected to unconfirmed NINs, which sparked a great deal of anger among users on Monday amidst citizens calling for a protest against economic hardship in the country.
This caused subscribers to besiege MTN offices across the country and vandals to break into MTN’s office in FESTAC, Lagos, on Monday. The following day, the operator suspended operations across the country. But on Wednesday, MTN reversed its decision and started up again.
In response to the outrage, the NCC ordered telecom operators to reactivate the affected lines, allowing subscribers more time for verification.
In its report, MTN attested that it had followed this instruction and reactivated the affected lines.
NIN-SIM linkage policy causes a reduction in users
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reports that in the first quarter of 2024, active voice subscribers in Nigeria’s telecom industry decreased by 2.4%.
The National Identification Number-Subscriber Identity Module linking policy is still being enforced by the Nigeria Communications Commission and the telecoms, which is the reason for this reduction.
With 81,799,666 active voice subscribers, MTN dominated the Nigerian telecom industry and cemented its position as the nation’s top telecom provider.
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