naptu2:


http://itedgenews.ng/2019/09/13/communications-minister-pantami-directs-ncc-to-block-9-2m-improperly-registered-sim-cards/

Mine is fully covered

Wetin una dey wait for?
Make una come block all the xenophobic lines them

this not the first time they are blocking SIM .... MTN Nigeria was fine because of not blocking some line....

lexy2014:

[s]
These people aren't serious human beings. Instead of d man to focus on how to improve network & ensure that Nigerians get value for money, he is trying to do d work of IG[/s]

Oversabi.

It is not the IG-s purview.

It is the NCC under the ministry of communications that would initiate and finalize on issues surrounding communications mechanisms.

lexy2014:


These people aren't serious human beings. Instead of d man to focus on how to improve network & ensure that Nigerians get value for money, he is trying to do d work of IG

Oh, it's the IG that regulated telecoms operations, clap for yourself.

GavelSlam:


Oversabi.

It is not the IG-s purview.

It is the NCC under the ministry of communications that would initiate and finalize on issues surrounding communications mechanisms.

Don't mind the dimwit, he reason like a toddler.

lexy2014:


These people aren't serious human beings. Instead of d man to focus on how to improve network & ensure that Nigerians get value for money, he is trying to do d work of IG

That (improving networks) is part of the targets that he gave them. Read the previous thread to see how it all started.

naptu2:
See previous thread.


Pantami Sets Targets For 6 Agencies Under The Ministry Of Communications.
https://www.nairaland.com/5393518/pantami-sets-targets-6-agencies

I think fg want to fine mtn again to get at south Africa for xenophobia...

GavelSlam:


Oversabi.

It is not the IG-s purview.

It is the NCC under the ministry of communications that would initiate and finalize on issues surrounding communications mechanisms.

"Telecom regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has been ordered to block about 9.2 million unregistered mobile telephone SIM cards as the Nigerian government haunts down illegal SIM cards used by criminals such as kidnappers to perpetrate crimes."

Seems d "oversabi" is hanging over ur head like a halo cos I don't no where u saw any one say NCC is under d supervision of d IG. d NCC doesn't need d minister to direct it to block SIM cards b4 it blocks them. That is its job. If d minister is now more interested in tracking down kidnappers on behalf of d IG than improving service delivery, then its a cause 4 concern

lexy2014:

[s]
"Telecom regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has been ordered to block about 9.2 million unregistered mobile telephone SIM cards as the Nigerian government haunts down illegal SIM cards used by criminals such as kidnappers to perpetrate crimes."

Seems d "oversabi" is hanging over ur head like a halo cos I don't no where u saw any one say NCC is under d supervision of d IG. d NCC doesn't need d minister to direct it to block SIM cards b4 it blocks them. That is its job. If d minister is now more interested in tracking down kidnappers on behalf of d IG than improving service delivery, then its a cause 4 concern

[/s]

Rubbish.

Use that thing between your ears difficult as it may be.

Who ordered the NCC?

These were the targets that the minister gave the agencies under his supervision when he assumed office

Pantami Sets Targets for 6 Agencies under the Ministry of Communications.


The Honourable Minister of Communications, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, has set targets for the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of the parastatals under the Ministry as well as the Directors of the Ministry. He urged them to significantly improve the level of their performance to reflect the Next Level paradigm of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR.

He made this known during his extensive meetings with and briefings by the various CEOs, which took place over a period of 1 week at the Ministry’s Headquarters in Abuja. The Minister assured the CEOs of the Federal Government’s support as they discharge their duties and reminded them of his commitment to sanction any parastatal that fails to step up its performance.

The CEOs were given numerous targets, amongst which are some of the following short-term targets:



Galaxy Backbone Plc:

i. To improve the reach and coverage of its services in the public sector; and

ii. To significantly improve the quality of services provided.



Nigerian Communications Commission:

i To bring to an end the issue of sales of pre-registered, unregistered and partially-registered SIM cards, especially as this can help in reducing numerous security challenges the nation faces;

ii To stem the tide of illegal deduction of the data of subscribers and work towards the downward review of the cost of data; and

iii. To ensure compliance with the maximum 2% Call Drop Rate directive to telecom operators.

Nigerian Communications Satellite (NIGCOMSAT) Limited:

i. To significantly improve its level of visibility across the country; and
ii. To ensure great improvement in the quality of its services.



Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST):

i. To ensure an appreciable improvement in the efficiency of its letter and parcel delivery service; and

ii. To increase the effective area of its coverage in the country.



National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA):

i. To have a greater level of focus on increasing local content development and patronage in the hardware and software sub-sectors;

ii. To strengthen the execution of its IT project clearance mandate to capture more projects by the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs); and

iii. To ensure the promotion and adoption of the Nigeria e-Government Interoperability Framework (Ne-GIF) by the MDAs.

Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF):

i. To ensure there is a sustainability model in place for all the projects deployed;

ii. To prepare plan to reduce the access gaps in the rural, unserved and underserved areas.

Pantami emphasized the Ministry’s roles of supervision and provision of broad policies for all the parastatals within the Ministry. He informed the CEOs that their performance would be assessed on a monthly basis. He asked them to be passionate, hardworking and ensure that they exhibit high level of integrity in the discharge of their duties. He urged them to follow due process in their activities as championed by the President and also directed them to communicate these values and targets to their staff.

The Honorable Minister encouraged synergy, unity and the forging of a harmonious inter-Agency relationship among the parastatals. He also assured them of his total commitment to ensuring that no obstacle stands in the way of the successful execution of their mandates.

Philomena O. Oshodin

https://www.nta.ng/news/technology/20190901-pantami-sets-targets-for-6-agebcies-under-the-ministry-of-communications/amp/?__twitter_impression=


www.nairaland.com/attachments/10149773_edy8ktnxkaaxoga_jpeg_jpegd31b6f2e0e12586db8ee0d791e4b0656

www.nairaland.com/attachments/10149774_edy8lmox4aanwa_jpeg_jpeg42b4d1e9e2baa90361ea92e8161d047f

www.nairaland.com/attachments/10149775_edy8l8hx4aat5z_jpeg_jpegd1f9ae9a57e00bd9eb172e9ab3313933

As you can see from the post above, improving service delivery and blocking unregistered SIM cards are not mutually exclusive.

GavelSlam:
[/s]

Rubbish.

Use that thing between your ears difficult as it may be.

Who ordered the NCC?

Seems u are using "that thing between your ears". If u were, u will find d answer to ur question in d story& also in my last comment except maybe u drew ur conclusions without using "that thing between your ears".

dont8:
Oh, it's the IG that regulated telecoms operations, clap for yourself.

Don't mind the dimwit, he reason like a toddler.

I am actually clapping 4u cos as a professor, am not sure were u read that I wrote that d IG regulates telecoms ops

Again, as an adult that u say u are, I thought u will have d maturity to ask questions if u needed clarification instead of getting personal.

naptu2:


That (improving networks) is part of the targets that he gave them. Read the previous thread to see how it all started.

Bros tnx 4 ur response and d info u shared. When u look at d targets given to d NCC, it shows that chasing criminals is d number one priority of d minister. Second, with d myriad of bad experiences Nigerians encounter with service providers, its a pity that this all d minister is interested in. Service providers can reduce cost of data but is d service good?

Nigerian Communications Commission:

i To bring to an end the issue of sales of pre-registered, unregistered and partially-registered SIM cards, especially as this can help in reducing numerous security challenges the nation faces;

ii To stem the tide of illegal deduction of the data of subscribers and work towards the downward review of the cost of data; and

iii. To ensure compliance with the maximum 2% Call Drop Rate directive to telecom operators.

naptu2:
As you can see from the post above, improving service delivery and blocking unregistered SIM cards are not mutually exclusive.

How's that?

lexy2014:


Bros tnx 4 ur response and d info u shared. When u look at d targets given to d NCC, it shows that chasing criminals is d number one priority of d minister. Second, with d myriad of bad experiences Nigerians encounter with service providers, its a pity that this all d minister is interested in. Service providers can reduce cost of data but is d service good?

Nigerian Communications Commission:

i To bring to an end the issue of sales of pre-registered, unregistered and partially-registered SIM cards, especially as this can help in reducing numerous security challenges the nation faces;

ii To stem the tide of illegal deduction of the data of subscribers and work towards the downward review of the cost of data; and

iii. To ensure compliance with the maximum 2% Call Drop Rate directive to telecom operators.

1) The minister is not "chasing criminals". That's the job of the police. The minister is ensuring that illegal SIM cards are not sold. That's part of his job as minister of communications (and if the NCC had been doing it properly, we won't have 9.2 million improperly registered SIM cards today).

2) Reducing the cost of data is not the only directive that the minister gave to the NCC. He also directed them to ensure compliance with the maximum 2% Call Drop Rate directive to telecom operators. Dropped calls occur when your calls are cut off because of poor network quality. Reducing the rate of dropped calls is also part of improving service delivery.

What happened to the billions NCC took from Nigerian Taxpayers for registration. What is the outcome of their sham registration?

lexy2014:


How's that?

The fact that he ordered the NCC to block unregistered SIMS does not mean that they cannot improve service delivery. One thing does not stop the other. As you can see from his initial directive to the NCC, blocking illegal SIMS is not the only thing that he ordered them to do. He also ordered them to reduce dropped calls to less than 2%, to reduce the cost of data and to improve coverage of mobile networks. Doing one thing does not stop them from doing the others.

naptu2:


1) The minister is not "chasing criminals". That's the job of the police. The minister is ensuring that illegal SIM cards are not sold. That's part of his job as minister of communications (and if the NCC had been doing it properly, we won't have 9.2 million improperly registered SIM cards today).

2) Reducing the cost of data is not the only directive that the minister gave to the NCC. He also directed them to ensure compliance with the maximum 2% Call Drop Rate directive to telecom operators. Dropped calls occur when your calls are cut off because of poor network quality. Reducing the rate of dropped calls is also part of improving service delivery.

Ensuring that "illegal SIMs" aren't sold isn't a problem. But what stood out was d reason y its being done with creates d impression that he is chasing criminals. An excerpt:

"Telecom regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has been ordered to block about 9.2 million unregistered mobile telephone SIM cards as the Nigerian government haunts down illegal SIM cards used by criminals such as kidnappers to perpetrate crimes."

I had an experience some time ago. I inherited a SIM from a lady friend which at d time she registered. After she had used it 4a while, I started using it. Am sure u aware that SIMs cant work, except they are regustered. I later got a message from d service provider that I needed to go register d SIM. Based on that, i asked my friend if she said she had registered d SIM. She said she had. There was even a code used to check& it confirmed that it was registered to her name. Eventually, d SIM was blocked 4 "improper registration".

My point is this. Based on d ministers emphasis on "haunting down illegal SIM cards used by criminals such as kidnappers to perpetrate crimes", not every " improperly registered" SIM is used 4 criminal activities. So u have 9.2m lines& u going to dedicate resources blocking those SIMs cos u suspect that they are all being used by criminals when u can allocate those resources in better supervision of d telcos 4 better service delivery.

From my experience, this isn't d first time they have blocked lines that were "improperly registered". They haven't improved on service delivery either.

Also, drop calls don't reflect d entire issues customers face. Slow network or non existent network is a problem. Lack of access to customer care. Even to browse can b a problem. For instance, glo can give u all d awoof but won't give u d network to use it. Network coverage is poor. That isn't covered in d targets given to NCC.

lexy2014:


Ensuring that "illegal SIMs" aren't sold isn't a problem. But what stood out was d reason y its being done with creates d impression that he is chasing criminals. An excerpt:

"Telecom regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has been ordered to block about 9.2 million unregistered mobile telephone SIM cards as the Nigerian government haunts down illegal SIM cards used by criminals such as kidnappers to perpetrate crimes."

I had an experience some time ago. I inherited a SIM from a lady friend which at d time she registered. After she had used it 4a while, I started using it. Am sure u aware that SIMs cant work, except they are regustered. I later got a message from d service provider that I needed to go register d SIM. Based on that, i asked my friend if she said she had registered d SIM. She said she had. There was even a code used to check& it confirmed that it was registered to her name. Eventually, d SIM was blocked 4 "improper registration".

My point is this. Based on d ministers emphasis on "haunting down illegal SIM cards used by criminals such as kidnappers to perpetrate crimes", not every " improperly registered" SIM is used 4 criminal activities. So u have 9.2m lines& u going to dedicate resources blocking those SIMs cos u suspect that they are all being used by criminals when u can allocate those resources in better supervision of d telcos 4 better service delivery.

From my experience, this isn't d first time they have blocked lines that were "improperly registered". They haven't improved on service delivery either.

Also, drop calls don't reflect d entire issues customers face. Slow network or non existent network is a problem. Lack of access to customer care. Even to browse can b a problem. For instance, glo can give u all d awoof but won't give u d network to use it. Network coverage is poor. That isn't covered in d targets given to NCC.

Aha! I was right. I thought that it was this sentence below that got you angry and confused you.

as the Nigerian government haunts down illegal SIM cards used by criminals such as kidnappers to perpetrate crimes.

There are some things that you need to know about the sentence.

1) It was not said by the minister. Those were the words of the journalist that wrote the story. They would have been enclosed in quotation marks if they were the words of the minister.

2) The journalist was quite careful in writing that sentence. He did not write, “as the minister of communications haunts down illegal SIM cards”, neither did he write, “as the NCC haunts down illegal SIM cards”, rather, he wrote, “as the Nigerian government haunts down illegal SIM cards”.

3) The Nigerian Police Force, the State Security Service and other security services are agencies of the Nigerian Government. These security agencies approach the NCC to find out the identities of the owners of mobile telephone lines and it is the duty of the NCC to provide such information to them. The minister is not trying to do the police’s duty, rather he is trying to do his duty.

The Federal Government mandated the NCC to ensure that all mobile phone SIM cards in Nigeria are registered and as long as there are unregistered SIM cards, then the NCC is failing to do its duty. The NCC is under the supervision of the ministry of communications and so it’s the duty of the minister to ensure that they do not fail in their duty. He is failing to do his duty if he does not ensure that the agencies under his supervision do not do their duty.


Furthermore, there is no where that the minister said that all unregistered SIM cards are used by criminals. It’s like a gun. Not all guns are used by criminals. Some are used by hunters, others are used by security guards, etc. but these people are required to register their guns because it is very important that the security services can trace the owner of a gun when it is used by criminals. Note that owners of unregistered SIMs are not arrested, rather they are encouraged to register their SIMs or the lines are blocked.

It is very easy to block unregistered SIMS and there are no resources that would have been used to improve telecoms services that would be tied down because unregistered SIMS are being blocked. Blocking unregistered SIMs in no way prevents the Ministry of Telecommunications or the NCC from working to improve telecoms services.


Again, you are still mentioning problems that the minister asked the NCC to solve. Dropped calls are often caused by congestion on the network or poor network coverage. That’s the same problem that causes slow internet connection and solving those problems are part of the targets that the minister gave to the NCC. In fact, illegal deduction of data was specifically mentioned in the second target to the NCC/

naptu2:





Aha! I was right. I thought that it was this sentence below that got you angry and confused you.

as the Nigerian government haunts down illegal SIM cards used by criminals such as kidnappers to perpetrate crimes.

There are some things that you need to know about the sentence.

1) It was not said by the minister. Those were the words of the journalist that wrote the story. They would have been enclosed in quotation marks if they were the words of the minister.

2) The journalist was quite careful in writing that sentence. He did not write, “as the minister of communications haunts down illegal SIM cards”, neither did he write, “as the NCC haunts down illegal SIM cards”, rather, he wrote, “as the Nigerian government haunts down illegal SIM cards”.

3) The Nigerian Police Force, the State Security Service and other security services are agencies of the Nigerian Government. These security agencies approach the NCC to find out the identities of the owners of mobile telephone lines and it is the duty of the NCC to provide such information to them. The minister is not trying to do the police’s duty, rather he is trying to do his duty.

The Federal Government mandated the NCC to ensure that all mobile phone SIM cards in Nigeria are registered and as long as there are unregistered SIM cards, then the NCC is failing to do its duty. The NCC is under the supervision of the ministry of communications and so it’s the duty of the minister to ensure that they do not fail in their duty. He is failing to do his duty if he does not ensure that the agencies under his supervision do not do their duty.


Furthermore, there is no where that the minister said that all unregistered SIM cards are used by criminals. It’s like a gun. Not all guns are used by criminals. Some are used by hunters, others are used by security guards, etc. but these people are required to register their guns because it is very important that the security services can trace the owner of a gun when it is used by criminals. Note that owners of unregistered SIMs are not arrested, rather they are encouraged to register their SIMs or the lines are blocked.

It is very easy to block unregistered SIMS and there are no resources that would have been used to improve telecoms services that would be tied down because unregistered SIMS are being blocked. Blocking unregistered SIMs in no way prevents the Ministry of Telecommunications or the NCC from working to improve telecoms services.


Again, you are still mentioning problems that the minister asked the NCC to solve. Dropped calls are often caused by congestion on the network or poor network coverage. That’s the same problem that causes slow internet connection and solving those problems are part of the targets that the minister gave to the NCC. In fact, illegal deduction of data was specifically mentioned in the second target to the NCC/

First of, am not angered or confused by d statement: "as the Nigerian government haunts down illegal SIM cards used by criminals such as kidnappers to perpetrate crimes.

Theres nowhere that i said that it isnt job of d minister or d NCC to block SIMs. What d statement reveals is intent and that intent falls within d purview of d criminal justice agencies that u mentioned.

Even in terms of what was attributed to minister, am sure u can c that in d original targets d minister gave d NCC, the statement mentioned using SIM blocking to fight crime. So d intent was originally stated by d statement from d office of d minister. So in a way, that statement is from him. D journalist only paraphrased.

According to u "These security agencies approach the NCC to find out the identities of the owners of mobile telephone lines and it is the duty of the NCC to provide such information to them."

Am aware of this modus operandi and d blocking of "improperly registered" SIMs doesn't correlate with d above as we have both agreed that "improperly registered" SIMs are not necessarily intended 4d purpose of commuting crimes. A customer who buys a SIM doesn't register it his or herself. So d problem of these SIMs is d fault of d person who registered d SIM on behalf of d customer. 4d ministers statement to associate "improperly registered" SIMs to criminality in my opinion is wrong. This is because even properly registered SIMs can b used to perpetrate crimes. This is d point am making.

In terms of resources allocated to SIM blocking, like I said earlier, this isn't d first time this exercise is being conducted. It has been done b4 but here we are still talking about poor service. Its shows where d emphasis or priority is.

Yes I saw d point on illegal deductions and also d point on reducing d cost of data. Hence I said, these guys can do all this just like glo& still mess things up with poor network. There are several reasons 4 poor network. not just congestion. I have had experience with glo for instance where theres no network to even call for hours or a couple of days. That's beyond just network congestion. There are also times when calls go thru but u cant browse. Its not so straightforward. What exactly causes such issues, am not entirely sure. But there was a time telcos were sanctioned 4 poor service delivery and 4 shortchanging customers. Not anymore

lexy2014:


First of, am not angered or confused by d statement: "as the Nigerian government haunts down illegal SIM cards used by criminals such as kidnappers to perpetrate crimes.

Theres nowhere that i said that it isnt job of d minister or d NCC to block SIMs. What d statement reveals is intent and that intent falls within d purview of d criminal justice agencies that u mentioned.

Even in terms of what was attributed to minister, am sure u can c that in d original targets d minister gave d NCC, the statement mentioned using SIM blocking to fight crime. So d intent was originally stated by d statement from d office of d minister. So in a way, that statement is from him. D journalist only paraphrased.

According to u "These security agencies approach the NCC to find out the identities of the owners of mobile telephone lines and it is the duty of the NCC to provide such information to them."

Am aware of this modus operandi and d blocking of "improperly registered" SIMs doesn't correlate with d above as we have both agreed that "improperly registered" SIMs are not necessarily intended 4d purpose of commuting crimes. A customer who buys a SIM doesn't register it his or herself. So d problem of these SIMs is d fault of d person who registered d SIM on behalf of d customer. 4d ministers statement to associate "improperly registered" SIMs to criminality in my opinion is wrong. This is because even properly registered SIMs can b used to perpetrate crimes. This is d point am making.

In terms of resources allocated to SIM blocking, like I said earlier, this isn't d first time this exercise is being conducted. It has been done b4 but here we are still talking about poor service. Its shows where d emphasis or priority is.

Yes I saw d point on illegal deductions and also d point on reducing d cost of data. Hence I said, these guys can do all this just like glo& still mess things up with poor network. There are several reasons 4 poor network. not just congestion. I have had experience with glo for instance where theres no network to even call for hours or a couple of days. That's beyond just network congestion. There are also times when calls go thru but u cant browse. Its not so straightforward. What exactly causes such issues, am not entirely sure. But there was a time telcos were sanctioned 4 poor service delivery and 4 shortchanging customers. Not anymore

No, you are wrong.

What is the reason for the SIM registration programme in the first place? The reason that it was instituted was to fight crime. I gave you the example of a gun. Not all gun users are criminals, but the fact that criminals use guns makes it necessary guns to be registered. Similarly, not all phone users are criminals and not all unregistered SIM users are criminals, but the fact that some people use phones to commit crimes made it necessary for the government to know the identity of people using the phones. This is the reason that SIM registration was instituted in the first place and that's what the minister was referring to when he mentioned crime. It doesn't mean that the minister will take over the job of the police and start chasing or arresting owners of unregistered SIMS.

SIM registration was started in May 2010 in order to assist security agencies in resolving crime. The initial SIM registration exercise ended in 2013. You can see it in this 2013 article. The new minister did not just invent the idea of using SIM registration to assist the security agencies to combat crime, which is why the journalist was not necessarily paraphrasing the minister, rather he was stating the reason that SIM registration is done. See this 2013 article. It's stated there. Note that this government was not in power in 2013 and Isa Pantami was not minister in 2013, yet it was stated that SIM registration was started to assist the security agencies to resolve crimes.

18 July 2013


This Day (Lagos)

analysis

By Emma Okonji


Emma Okonji examines the impact of SIM registration on service quality, since its initial introduction in May 2010


In May 2010, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) gave a directive to all telecoms operators to register subscriber identification module (SIM) cards on their networks. The aim of the exercise was to assist security operatives in resolving crimes, facilitate the collation of data by the commission on phone users in the country, and to enable operators have a determinable profile about subscribers on their networks, and improve on network quality among others.

https://allafrica.com/stories/201307180363.html

Like I said, owners of unregistered SIMS are not arrested. They are simply asked to register them or the line is blocked.

All the issues that you mentioned all still fall within the purview of the NCC and there's no way that blocking unregistered SIMS will prevent the NCC from carrying out its mandate. The NCC already has methods whereby consumers can report problems with telcos. There's also the consumer parliament and telcos have been sanctioned and fined many times. Airtel and 9mobile were sanctioned just last month due to complaints from consumers and anybody can call 622 (toll free) to lodge a complaint with NCC.

Airtel and 9mobile sanctioned in August 2019
https://technext.ng/2019/08/05/ncc-sanctions-telecom-operators-airtel-and-9mobile-for-violating-its-regulations-on-quality-of-service/

Also in March this year, the telecom regulator also said it received a complaint of automatic data renewal from a 9mobile subscriber, which it investigated and fined the telco N5m for violating its directive.

https://punchng.com/ncc-fines-airtel-9mobile-n136m-for-infractions/

Anybody can complain to the NCC. You can complain to the NCC if you are having issues with your network and as you can see, action is taken against erring networks.


The NCC collects data about the quality of services from the networks every quarter and there are NCC consumer parliament every month (the consumer parliament is a forum in which consumers meet face to face with the telcos to state their complaints and action is taken on such complaints immediately). Based on complaints by consumers and data from the networks, it was discovered that dropped calls, high cost of data and data theft/deductions were the biggest complaints of consumers and therefore the minister set targets for the NCC to tackle these issues. That does not mean that other issues will not be tackled.

Blocking of unregistered SIMS does not in anyway prevent this from happening. They are not mutually exclusive. NCC has been blocking unregistered SIMs since 2013 and it has not stopped them from sanctioning telcos or enforcing standards.

Read >> Codes To Check SIM Registration Status of MTN, Glo, Airtel and 9Mobile Phone Numbers in Nigeria

naptu2:


No, you are wrong.

What is the reason for the SIM registration programme in the first place? The reason that it was instituted was to fight crime. I gave you the example of a gun. Not all gun users are criminals, but the fact that criminals use guns makes it necessary guns to be registered. Similarly, not all phone users are criminals and not all unregistered SIM users are criminals, but the fact that some people use phones to commit crimes made it necessary for the government to know the identity of people using the phones. This is the reason that SIM registration was instituted in the first place and that's what the minister was referring to when he mentioned crime. It doesn't mean that the minister will take over the job of the police and start chasing or arresting owners of unregistered SIMS.

SIM registration was started in May 2010 in order to assist security agencies in resolving crime. The initial SIM registration exercise ended in 2013. You can see it in this 2013 article. The new minister did not just invent the idea of using SIM registration to assist the security agencies to combat crime, which is why the journalist was not necessarily paraphrasing the minister, rather he was stating the reason that SIM registration is done. See this 2013 article. It's stated there. Note that this government was not in power in 2013 and Isa Pantami was not minister in 2013, yet it was stated that SIM registration was started to assist the security agencies to resolve crimes.



https://allafrica.com/stories/201307180363.html

Like I said, owners of unregistered SIMS are not arrested. They are simply asked to register them or the line is blocked.

All the issues that you mentioned all still fall within the purview of the NCC and there's no way that blocking unregistered SIMS will prevent the NCC from carrying out its mandate. The NCC already has methods whereby consumers can report problems with telcos. There's also the consumer parliament and telcos have been sanctioned and fined many times. Airtel and 9mobile were sanctioned just last month due to complaints from consumers and anybody can call 622 (toll free) to lodge a complaint with NCC.

Airtel and 9mobile sanctioned in August 2019
https://technext.ng/2019/08/05/ncc-sanctions-telecom-operators-airtel-and-9mobile-for-violating-its-regulations-on-quality-of-service/


https://punchng.com/ncc-fines-airtel-9mobile-n136m-for-infractions/

Anybody can complain to the NCC. You can complain to the NCC if you are having issues with your network and as you can see, action is taken against erring networks.


The NCC collects data about the quality of services from the networks every quarter and there are NCC consumer parliament every month (the consumer parliament is a forum in which consumers meet face to face with the telcos to state their complaints and action is taken on such complaints immediately). Based on complaints by consumers and data from the networks, it was discovered that dropped calls, high cost of data and data theft/deductions were the biggest complaints of consumers and therefore the minister set targets for the NCC to tackle these issues. That does not mean that other issues will not be tackled.

Blocking of unregistered SIMS does not in anyway prevent this from happening. They are not mutually exclusive. NCC has been blocking unregistered SIMs since 2013 and it has not stopped them from sanctioning telcos or enforcing standards.

I think u are missing what am trying to say. D question u should b asking is what is d emphasis of d NCC and its supervisory ministry? Is it SIM card registration or ensuring telcos deliver quality service? From d stories u shared, a total of 136m naira was levied on two telcos 4 infractions as far as service delivery is concerned. That isn't even a slap on d wrist. It is a kiss on d wrist. Compare that to d $5b fine imposed on MTN 4 not registering SIMs, which is just $2b less that d tariff d US is going to impose on d EU. This clearly shows u were d emphasis is.

All these things u mentioned about NCC customer complaint outlets are well known but aren't effective if d emphasis isn't on customers as i showed above. Let's c d process of reporting an issue to NCC:

"A dissatisfied Consumer should first contact the Service Provider whose service or product he/she is dissatisfied with to lodge a complaint. The Service Provider issues a ticket number to the consumer upon lodging a complaint.
In the event that the complaint is not satisfactorily resolved by the Service Provider, the Consumer can escalate the complaint to the Commission via any of the following channels;
(1)Write a letter of complaint to the Commission.
(2) Call the NCC 622 toll free line.
(3) Visit the consumer web portal and fill a COMPLAINT FORM".

D import of d above is that if i cant get thru 2d telcos customer care, then i cant bring a case against d telcos to NCC. Let's take glo for instance. In my last try to speak to a customer care agent at glo, i was put on hold 4 about 20mimutes yet no agent was available. Is NCC not aware that its a harrowing experience to get across to glo customer care? What has it done about it?

When it comes to data stealing, I have been a victim from airtel. NCC is very much aware of data theft and everything that goes on with d telcos. Where are d sanctions? Are customers reimbursed? No.

B4 NCC sanctioned mtn $5b, it didn't use customer complaints as a basis.
So clearly, d NCC and its supervisory ministry are more concerned about catching criminals thru SIM registration than ensuring Nigerians get value for what they pay for