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Nigeria has granted MTN and other operators a license to register identities of citizens.
By Loni Prinsloo, Bloomberg
18 Dec 2020 16:55
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Image: Nwakalor/Bloomberg
MTN will work with the Nigerian authorities to implement a regulatory requirement that all mobile lines be linked to residentsâ identity numbers by the end of the year.
As part of the push by Africaâs most-populous nation to tackle rising insecurity in a country where only one in four people have official identification, telecommunications companies have been ordered to link SIM cards to national identity numbers by the end of the year. Those that do not comply by December 31 risk having their phones cut off, with millions of lines at risk.
MTN Group CEO Ralph Mupita
MTN is in a race against time to get about half its subscribers to comply with the Nigerian government’s stipulation that their Sims be connected to their ID numbers by the end of the year.
This follows minister of communications & digital economy Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami giving mobile operators two weeks from 16 December to get the West African country’s 200 million mobile subscribers to register their national identification numbers with their Sims.
The latest ruction in the group’s largest market saw its share price fall over 7% to R61.44 on Thursday.
The problem is that there are only about 42 million Nigerians with ID numbers. Of this, about half are MTN subscribers
New headwinds for MTN in Nigeria as authorities tighten deadline for SIMs
By Dineo Faku
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JOHANNESBURG - MTN, AFRICA’s mobile giant, traded lower yesterday following news that Nigerian authorities had given mobile operators a tight deadline of two weeks to block all SIM cards that were not registered with the National Identity Numbers (NIN).
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on Tuesday told network operators in that country to suspend registration of new SIMs, and that subscribers were required to provide a valid NIN to update SIM registration records between yesterday and December 30.
The NCC said all SIMs without NINs were to be blocked from the networks after the deadline, and that a ministerial task force comprising Communications and Digital Minister Isa Ali Ibrahim and all the chief executives as members was to monitor compliance by all networks.
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Mission impossible for MTN in Nigeria
It has to match half its subscribers to their ID numbers or risk having them block the from its network by year-end. 13:40
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MTN is working with the Nigerian authorities - MTN Group CEO Ralph Mupita. Image: Moneyweb
MTN is in a race against time to get about half its subscribers to comply with the Nigerian governmentâs stipulation that their SIMs be connected to their ID numbers by the end of the year.
This follows minister of communications and digital economy, Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami giving mobile operators two weeks from December 16 to get the West African countryâs 200 million mobile subscribers to register their National Identification Number (NIN) with their SIMs.
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MTN could complete Nigerian sim card order within six months – executive
While a ban on sales of new sim cards was unlikely to last that long, executives said on Thursday.
By Emma Rumney, Reuters
17 Dec 2020 15:48
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REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde
MTN could be compliant with Nigeria’s order that telecommunications firms add valid National Identification Numbers (NIN) to all registered sim cards within six months, while a ban on sales of new sim cards was unlikely to last that long, executives said on Thursday.
The current and incoming CEOs of MTN Nigeria, Ferdi Moolman and Karl Toriola, made the comments on a call to brief investors on the change after Nigerian regulators made the announcement earlier this week, giving the industry a two week deadline to complete the task.