NCC Bans Registration of Old SIM Cards

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), on Monday, permanently placed embargo on the registration of old Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards by telecoms providers.

Tony Ojobo, NCC director of Public Affairs, said that the registration of old SIM cards ended in 2012, adding that network providers were only allowed to register new SIM cards.

He told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that the ‘‘Registration of new SIM cards was allowed to enable subscribers to have freedom of entry and exit from a mobile network to be able to switch to a new mobile network of their choice.

‘‘If the registration is stopped, how would foreigners that are coming to Nigeria or new citizens who are ripe to use mobile phones register? There is no time we can stop the registration.

‘‘What was stopped was the registration of old SIM cards after nine months that the official registration started, for old SIMs it has stopped, but for new it shall continue,’’ Ojobo said.

He said network providers had the right to reissue any number that was not in use by subscribers after nine months. n.