The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has issued a directive to all telecom operators to refrain from sending alert messages to subscribers on account of the status of their SIM card registration.
Head, Media and Public Relations of the Commission, Mr. Reuben Muoka, in a statement, said the directive became necessary as service providers were sending conflicting information to subscribers, thereby causing unnecessary anxiety among the Nigerian public.
He said that it was discovered that some operators were sending text messages to those who have already registered their SIM cards. Some operators were reported to have also issued a code to their subscribers to check the status of their registration, an action which he said was not necessary.
Muoka said this action was not tenable, as the operators, sometimes, issued such texts to those who have already registered with them. He said the action of the operators was worsened by the fact that the NCC appointed agents have no facility to also send such texts as they travel round, resulting in ugly situations where the operators send texts to those who were correctly registered by the NCC appointed agents.
“The SIM registration data being gathered by the operators, and those of the NCC appointed agents, all belong to the NCC. It is only the NCC that will be in the position to tell any subscriber about the status of his or her registration, and that will only happen after the completion of the project”, he said.
The NCC spokesman also assured subscribers that no operator was permitted to disconnect any subscriber on account of SIM card registration until after the expiration of the exercise when the Commission would issue appropriate directives to the operators on the matter.
He advised the subscribers to ensure that the data being supplied at the registration centres were accurate by crosschecking with the registration officers at the point of the registration as those handling the registration have computer monitors where all subscribers could easily see the data supplied and approve.