The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and telecom operators have expressed optimism over the commencement of the Sim card registration from May 1.

In a telephone interview with NEXT, Reuben Muoka the spokesperson for the commission said, “Any new sim card bought subsequently from May 1, 2010 must be registered for life.”

The commission announced in December that the sim card registration is part of efforts to curb crime in the country, but the exercise will, however, begin with new sim cards purchased by new subscribers.

Mr. Muoka explained that the registration will be done online, adding that “operators are expected to put all machinery in motion for the commencement of the process. We suspect that they will sell what is called partially activated lines, whereby, you may get a line but can only receive calls or Short Message Service (SMS) but not able to make calls or send texts. So, you must now go to a particular place where you will have your sim registered before you can begin to enjoy these services,” said Mr. Muoka.

MTN is ready

In an email response to NEXT, Funmilayo Omogbenigun, the General Manager, Communications, MTN Nigeria said, “Yes, MTN Nigeria is ready to commence its Sim cards registration come May 1, 2010. We have installed equipment that captures bio-metric and demographic data.”

Ms. Omogbenigun noted that the registration exercise will not affect the prices of Sim cards in the market.

Registration requirements

However, there are some basic requirements from new subscribers to ensure a successful exercise.

Visafone Nigeria explained, “We need to capture subscriber’s name, phone number, address, digital photo and biometrics (thumb & index finger print). These are the specific requirements needed from the subscriber at no cost to ensure the smooth flow of the process.”

Existing subscribers

The Communications Commission, the industry regulator said it will handle the registration of the active subscribers sims estimated in excess of 70 million, even as it has not yet decided on the commencement date.

“We hope to start within the next three months. The duration for the process will depend on when we start, because we need to review when we begin and know what kind of deadline is appropriate in this circumstance,” said Mr. Muoka.

Price Cap

Ahead of the Sim card registration, the commission has also announced the introduction of a price cap system for the benefit of subscribers.

Stephen Bello, the acting vice chairman of the commission, in a recent statement said, the regulator has developed a policy of price cap regulation, “where we give a price and the competition can make you to operate within this degree of freedom, but not beyond it.”

He argued that the measure became necessary to forestall a situation in which operators may “cooperate and try to maximize their profit”.

“Now we know for a fact that the number of lines has increased, there is economy of scale and you know that as you have advantages of economy of scale the unit price comes down. We believe that the competition in the industry will control prices,” added Mr. Bello.

Mr. Muoka expantiated, “In order to make tariff to come down further just as the interconnect rate came down last year, the expectation is that the retail price will also come down. In order to actually make it happen, we put a price cap that is, a price at which no operator will charge above.”

He, however said the price cap has not yet been determined, as such a judgment will be based on “the market situation, what the competition is, the interconnect rate and say no operators can charge above a certain amount. We are going to review it, get more data from the operators about their current rate and also do this in other services like SMS etc., before implementing.”

~Bluetooth:

How is this feasible when you can always buy your sim card on the street.

babaearly:

I can fake any information the service providers need. GSM is just like the internet, you can be very anonymous using data services not to talk of faking.

ladi02:

You cant fake a government ID, but even if you do, your finger print will be taken, so you better use the same name each time you register

violent:

And why should we say No?

We supply this kind of information {Passport, address, etc} at the banks before opening an account, the only addition is the finger print thingy, so why make a big fuss out of nothing.

Moreover, looking at the upside which clearly outweighs the downside, such information as fingerprint will definitely come handy towards tracking of criminals, kidnappers etc.
Hundreds of crime are committed on a daily basis with the perpetrators ignorantly leaving their fingerprint all over the place, it is only prudent that we have a database that can analyse such data and produce the criminals involved in a clear and concise manner.

Besides, it will also help to stem cases of fraud which has consistently been the bane of Nigerian's problems

Black_Revo:

You should say no because you do not need a finger print submission to obtain a sim card even in the developed world and such biometric data are not to be left in the hands of private institutions. No one is against using finger print technology to fight crime but such data's are only left in the hands of government agencies and not a phone company please.

Hope you remember mossad dubai hit and i wonder what you guys will say when your data is used to commit such crimes.

Chrisbenogor:

No mind them jo, me I am not dropping my finger print for MTN or Glo or you can even imagine dropping your finger prints for an epileptic company like ZAIN. . . . . .TUFIAKWA!

kech:

True that. That is why fingerprints are essential. You can fake your name but you can't fake your fingerprint. As long as your fingerprint is on record, they'll catch you if you try to play smart. Everyone's fingerprint is unique. No two are the same.

ladi02:

@bluetooth, the sims to be sold from today on the streets will only be able to receive calls and texts until you register it, before you can make calls with it

~Bluetooth:

so what happens to old lines?

Black_Revo:

They will start taking care of that at least three months from this day.

You should say no because you do not need a finger print submission to obtain a sim card even in the developed world and such biometric data are not to be left in the hands of private institutions. No one is against using finger print technology to fight crime but such data's are only left in the hands of government agencies and not a phone company please.

Hope you remember mossad dubai hit and i wonder what you guys will say when your data is used to commit such crimes.

Chrisbenogor:

No mind them jo, me I am not dropping my finger print for MTN or Glo or you can even imagine dropping your finger prints for an epileptic company like ZAIN. . . . . .TUFIAKWA!

violent:

And if you drop your fingerprint for Zain, are they going to cut off your air supply with it?

deor03:

Fraudsters are beginning to Fear.

Good news is that JUNK calls ( , "I am your uncle in London" type of calls.) will drop drastically.


NCC please Carry Go.