Telecommunications multinational MTN Nigeria has assured shareholders that it has complied with the Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC’s) directive and implemented the restrictions on outgoing voice calls of certain subscribers, the group said in a statement.

All other services remain available to all subscribers, including those that are yet to submit their national identity numbers (NINs).

The NCC issued a statement on April 4 informing operators that they will be required to implement restrictions on the outgoing calls for subscribers whose subscriber identity modules (SIMs) are not associated with NINs.

“MTN Nigeria subsequently received a formal directive from the NCC to implement a phased suspension of services to affected subscribers, placing them on receive only status with effect from April 4,” the company said on April 6.

MTN Nigeria has deployed more than 4 200 points of enrolment across the country to support the NIN enrolment drive. This network continues to be expanded to ensure enrolment is within reach of all Nigerians.

MTN Nigeria also continues to work with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to accelerate the bulk verification of NINs collected.

Further, MTN Nigeria has made good progress, with about 47-million subscribers having submitted their NINs by March 31. This represents about 67% of MTN Nigeria’s subscriber base and 76% of service revenue for the 2021 financial year.

“Outgoing voice revenue from the current subscribers who have not submitted an NIN amounts to about 9% of MTN Nigeria’s total 2021 financial year service revenue on an annualised basis.”

For MTN Group, this amounts to about 3% of 2021 financial year service revenue on an annualised basis.

“MTN Nigeria supports the work being done by the Federal Government of Nigeria to build a reliable and sustainable National Identity Management system, which is a critical enabler that will deliver multiple benefits to the telecoms industry and Nigeria as a whole.

“It will aid national economic planning and enhance security, governance and service delivery at all levels,” MTN Group said.

MTN Nigeria also continues to engage with the NCC and the NIMC, including through relevant industry bodies, as it has done since December 2020, when the initial directive to link NINs to SIMs was made.