The recent lifting of the ban on new SIM card by the federal government will ease communication, writes Emma Okonji
Nigeria has a large population of telecoms subscribers, which reached over 200 million as at January 2021, with a teledensity of 104.89 per cent.
The figure, which keeps rising on a weekly basis, has placed Nigeria as the country with the fastest growing telecoms market in Africa and the entire world.
However, one unique feature about Nigerian subscribers is that each adult Nigerian has a minimum of two mobile phones with four SIM cards, because each mobile phone built for the African market, comes with two SIM slots. So on the average, an adult Nigerian has four lines (SIM Cards) from different telecoms service providers.
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(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – The Federal Government has lifted the ban on new Subscribers Identification Module (SIMs) card registration.
The effective date for implementation, the government said, is Monday, April 19, 2021.
It however placed NIN registration as mandatory for registering new SIM cards.
The latest development was contained in revised National Digital Identity Policy for SIM Card Registration approved by President Muhammadu Buhari.
A statement by Technical Assistant (Information Technology) to Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Femi Adeluyi, reads in part: “The implementation of the Policy will commence on Monday, 19th of April 2021.
“The issuance of New SIMs and other suspended activities will resume on the same date, as long as verification is done and the guidelines are fully adhered to.
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The Federal Government has approved the activation of new SIM card registration with mandatory National Identity Number linking, starting from April 19, 2021.
This was disclosed in a statement signed on Thursday by the Technical Assistant (Information Technology) to the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Femi Adeluyi.
According to him, in line with the Nigerian Communications Act 2003, Section 23(a), the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami, coordinated and led the development of a revised National Digital Identity Policy for SIM card registration in collaboration with all other stakeholders.
He noted that the key aspects of the draft policy were presented to the stakeholders at the 4th review meeting of the Ministerial Task Force on the NIN-SIM registration which held in February.
The federal government yesterday reversed its policy banning the sale of new Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards.
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Pantami, in agreement with industry stakeholders, also yesterday revised the National Digital Identity Policy for SIM card registration.
According to him, the activation of new SIM card, banned in December last year, will begin on April.
Pantami directed the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to ensure the provisions of the National Digital Identity Policy for SIM card registration are strictly followed by all operators and subscribers.
He said the implementation of the policy and issuance of new SIMs and other suspended activities would resume on the same date, provided that verification had been completed and the guidelines fully adhered to.
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