The lead telecom stakeholders’ industry group, Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) Wednesday issued a broad-based statement on its stands regarding current industry issues especially regarding the NIN-SIM integration and others as follows;
- Update on ALTON members response to NCC Directives
Following the recent directives by the NCC regarding the SIM registration process, mobile operators have responded rapidly by putting in place the processes and infrastructure necessary to enable them incorporate existing National Identity Numbers (NINs) into the current SIM registration data and support subscriber enrolment into the National Identity database.
We continue to work closely with the government to deliver on the task ahead of us and are committed to making the process as seamless as possible for all our customers. The Chairman of ALTON, and the CEO’s of MNO members of ALTON are part of a Ministerial Task Force accountable for implementing the directives as we work together to find a sustainable solution to this national assignment.
- Licensing as NIN enrolment agents
All MNO’s have now received an enrolment and verification license from the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) or via the NCC, legally enabling them to verify NIN’s provided by customers and to enrol citizens into the NIN database.
- Adding NINs to existing SIM registrations
All operators have established various systems to enable subscribers with existing NINs to add their NIN’s to their SIM registration profile. Options deployed for customer ease and convenience include USSD strings, apps and other self-service online portals, walk-in stores and customer care lines
It is important to note that we do expect that when SIM registration details are verified against the NIN database, there are likely to be inconsistencies in some of the data captured e.g. Spelling, order or number of names captured etc. Where such inconsistencies are found, the operators will notify subscribers and provide a quick and easy mechanism to update SIM registration data and ensure alignment.
- Integration with NIMC
To facilitate the validation, verification and enrolment processes and having now been licenced by NIMC to provide those services, operators have commenced the process of backend integration with NIMC’s database and increasing the capacity of the respective databases thus enabling more rapid validation and verification.
- Practicalities of NIN registration
To provide operational steer representatives of NCC, NIMC, ALTON and MNOs will also be meeting regularly to review progress, identify challenges, develop solutions and generally continue to enhance the process with a view to ensuring the safety, security and well-being of our customers while making significant progress towards our collective objective. We are pleased to see the recently announced extension of the deadline for registration and reiterate our commitment to ensuring the maximum level of compliance possible within the set timeframe.
In conclusion, ALTON averred that “We continue to seek for your cooperation and understanding.”
