An individual may no longer be able to
own more than three phone lines going by a directive handed down to the
Nigerian Communications Commission by the Minister of Communications and
Digital Economy, Dr Isah Pantami.
The directive was based on security considerations.
Pantami directed the NCC to revise the
policy on SIM card registration and usage, according to a statement
issued by his Technical Assistant on Information Technology, Dr Femi
Adeluyi, in Abuja on Wednesday.
The revised policy would ensure that,
henceforth, the National Identity Number would become a compulsory
requirement for registration of new SIM cards in the country.
The new policy would also put a cap on
the number of mobile phone lines or SIM cards that could be obtained and
registered by an individual.
Currently, many Nigerians have multiple mobile phone lines as they could buy as many as possible.
Pantami, in the directive issued to the
NCC, suggested that an individual should not have more than three mobile
phone lines or SIM cards.
While fresh registration of SIM card is
to be accompanied with a subscriber’s NIN, all already registered SIM
cards are to be updated with the identity number before December 1,
2020.
Similarly, foreigners are to use their passport and or visa numbers to register SIM cards.
Parts of the statement read, “The
updated policy is expected to ensure that the National Identity Number
becomes a prerequisite for Nigerians registering new SIM cards (while
for foreigners, their passports and visas should be used), while already
registered SIM cards are to be updated with NIN before December 1,
2020.
“There should be a maximum number of SIM cards that can be tied to a single individual, possibly a maximum of three.”
The NCC was equally directed to ensure
that only fully accredited agents support the SIM card registration
process without pre-registering SIM would be themselves, while the
eventual registration should be done by the operators.
The commission was also ordered to ensure that, henceforth, no unregistered SIM is ever allowed on mobile networks.
According to the statement, the updated
policy is expected to “ensure that subscribers can easily check the
number of SIM cards registered to their name, along with the associated
phone numbers and networks.”
The new policy would also make it mandatory for mobile network operators to fortify their networks against cyberattacks.
Provisions of the new policy would
further compel the telcos to adhere to the provisions of the Nigeria
Data Protection Regulation, which guards against any breach of the
personal data.
The new policy, to be formulated by the
NCC in line with the minister’s directive, would, in the same vein,
ensure that SIM cards that have been used to perpetrate crime are
permanently deactivated.
The NCC was directed to provide the minister with progress reports on the implementation of the revised policy.
Pantami explained that the need for the revised policy was informed by reports from security agencies.
“The revision of the policy is based on
the feedback received from the security agencies following the
successful revalidation of improperly registered SIM cards in September
2019 and the blocking of those that failed to revalidate their SIMs,”
the statement said.
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