Confusion over SIM registration as agents outwit selves

Ben Uzor Jr

Confusion continues to trail the on-going SIM card registration as registration agents of partner firms’ contracted by the Nigerian Communications Commissions (NCC) and telecommunications companies (telcos) are in a fierce struggle to register more subscribers. Determined to meet the targets set by contracting firms and telcos, registration agents now use all manner of antics and guises to sway new and existing subscribers into registering their SIM cards with them. This, according to some subscribers has resulted in their inability to use their SIMs to make calls.

The NCC contracted seven partners to handle the registration process in different parts of the country. The contractors are: SW Global for South East; PNN for North Central; Chams will register subscribers in Lagos, while JKK will oversee those in South West. Others are: DataGroupIT for the North East; EAGLE/CBC for the North West, while E-Kenneth/SageMetrics will register subscribers in the South-South comprising. Informed sources close told Business Day that these contracting firms have directed their agents to register 420 individual per week as they stand the risk of losing their jobs.

“Most of these agents handling NCC’s registration exercise now use all manner of guises to lure new subscribers into registering with them when they do not possess the capacity to activate SIMs. “They are punishing Nigerians, it tantamount to disenfranchising the subscribers. This is one problem I have with the exercise”, Dele Ogunbanjo, president, National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers (NATCOMS) told Business Day. Agents registering for telcos have also been accused of misinforming subscribers by insisting that they register with them even after they have registered with NCC.

“We have said this clearly, if you have registered with NCC there is no need to register with MTN or any other Telco. If you have registered with MTN there is no need to register with NCC. “No telcos today is insisting on duplication of SIM registration”, Wale Goodluck, corporate service executive, MTN Nigeria told Business Day in a phone interview yesterday. Echoing Goodluck’s view, Reuben Mouka, head of public affairs, NCC said, “If you purchase a new SIM card there is no need to register with the NCC. Only operators are responsible for registration of new SIMs. These registration agents do not have the facility or the capacity to activate new SIM cards. Only an operator can activate new SIMs”.

Meanwhile, the NCC has warned telecoms subscribers and telecom operators over the sale, or use of 'pre-registered' SIM cards. Muoka, said the act of selling pre-registered new SIM cards to the members of the public by vendors or retailers, and use of such cards by anybody whatsoever, contravenes the regulation on registration of phone subscribers. He said such person or persons shall be liable on conviction to a fine, or imprisonment, or both, in line with the Nigerian Communications Act 2003.

He said the commission will also hold network service providers liable when such cards are found to be in use as they are expected to ensure that new SIM cards are not pre-registered before they are sold to members of the public through their various channels. Mouka said those found to be involved in this illegality will face arrest, detention, investigation, prosecution and sanction in line with the provisions of the Communications Act. He also warned the public desist from buying pre-registered SIM as they will also be liable if such line is in any way connected to any crime or misuse.

However, industry analysts maintain that the registration process has become a burden to many consumers. According to them, the sheer size of the country and the biometric requirements of the project greatly contribute to the inadequacy of registration points needed to cater to the entire populace in a timely manner. The burden on the consumer, according to them, is further increased by the fact that the majority of subscribers in Nigeria have more than one SIM Card for reasons of backup and cost-effectiveness. Others tend to have more than one SIM card for voice and data services.

Besides, this situation increases the burden on the registration centers to handle the numbers. Ogunbanjo said advocacy group was obligated to caution that the successes in the telecom industry over the last 10 years are now being threatened by the challenges faced with the registration of telecoms consumers, which is intended to curb the menace of the rampant abuse of telecommunications by criminals, especially the scourge of kidnappers. He called for proper and extensive public sensitisation down to the grassroots level, to enable Nigerians get proper information on SIM registration.