Many subscribers to the MTN network in Nigeria are now stranded as the telecommunications giant disconnected their lines over failure to link their National Identity Numbers to their Subscriber Identification Module cards.
This is coming after several warnings by the Nigerian Communications Commission and the telecoms company that subscribers must link their lines to their NINs.
On Friday, MTN Nigeria reported that over 4.2 million lines were disconnected from its network after the February 28 deadline given by the NCC.
The firm disclosed this in its Earning Report for the year ended December 31, 2023.
It also noted that 19 million lines on its network were currently being verified, adding that 4.3 million had been verified as of February.
MTN noted, “We also had approximately 4.2 million lines disconnected for which the subscribers did not submit their NIN. Several of these lines were low-value subscribers, minimising the revenue impact.
“We are actively engaging the authorities to accelerate the NIN verification process. We have also increased our engagement with the affected customers, providing various channels for verification to minimise service disruption.”
The disconnected lines are part of an industry-wide directive requiring telecom operators to bar subscribers whose lines have not been linked to their NIN.
The NCC had in December 2023 issued a directive to MTN, Airtel, Globacom, and 9Mobile to fully bar phone lines not linked to subscribers’ NINs by February 28, 2024.
Those who had submitted their NINs but were not verified were also subject to barring.
For lines with submitted but unverified NINs, the directive mandated barring on or before March 29, 2024, for five or more linked lines.
For less than five linked lines, our correspondent learnt that barring would occur on or before April 15, 2024.
The NCC emphasised the need for biometric and biodata verification before unblocking the affected lines.
Industry sources noted that about 12 million lines across the networks might have been disconnected after the February 28 deadline.