Cost of living, multiple lines hobbles SIM-NIN linkage

The ongoing Subscriber Identification Modules (SIMs) to the National Identity Numbers (NINs) linkage exercise has been hampered by the widespread ownership of multiple SIM cards and a rising cost of living, leading to a rise in SIM abandonment.

This challenge has resulted in several extensions of the exercise’s deadline. In December 2020, the Federal Government banned the sale and registration of new SIM cards, mandating a 30-day deadline for citizens to link their NINs with their SIM cards. Despite repeated extensions, the government has now set a final deadline of September 15, 2024, after which any SIMs not linked to a NIN will be deactivated.

According to analysts, the prevalence of multiple SIM ownership has become a significant obstacle. The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) notes that a NIN is linked to at least three to four SIMs. While this practice (multiple SIM ownership) fuelled the country’s mobile revolution, it is now a barrier to an exercise deemed crucial for improving security, reducing fraud and cybercrime, and fostering participation in e-commerce, digital banking, and mobile money services.

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On Wednesday, the NCC reported that 153 million phone lines have been linked to NIN since the exercise began. “To date, over 153 million SIMs have been successfully linked to NINs, reflecting an impressive compliance rate of 96 percent, a substantial increase from 69.7 percent in January 2024,” it stated.

However, with the total number of active lines standing at 219.01 million as of March 2024, an estimated 66.01 million lines remain unlinked.

“Multiple SIM ownership can be blamed for this high number of unlinked lines,” said Adeolu Ogunbanjo, president of the National Association of Telecoms Subscribers (NATCOMS).

The NCC corroborated this, noting, “Through collaboration with the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), the NCC has uncovered alarming cases where individuals possessed an unusually high number of SIM cards—some exceeding 100,000.”

Gbenga Adebayo, the president of the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), added that many of these SIMs are in devices such as car trackers, POS machines, MiFis, WiFis, and other gadgets.

“These SIMs are easy to forget,” said a top manager at a mobile network operator, explaining that many users are unaware they even possess these SIMs.

Ogunbanjo of NATCOMS also pointed out that some subscribers deliberately abandon SIMs to avoid paying debts owed to telecom operators. “There is also the issue of abandoned SIMs. I know someone with nine SIMs. These people owe telcos so much that when operators try to deduct the money back, they abandon their SIMs and get new ones,” he said.

Inaccurate data between multiple SIMs trying to get linked to one NIN is also a serious issue. This issue came to a head in July when many subscribers who believed they had linked their lines got barred. “Some people with multiple SIM cards give conflicting information while registering, which doesn’t tally with their NIN information. This causes issues during linkage, and the data to be linked must be the same,” Ogunbanjo noted.

With inflation hitting 33.40 percent in July, the rising cost of living has further exacerbated the situation, making it increasingly difficult for people to maintain multiple SIMs. “Overall, these headwinds put pressure on consumers and the cost of doing business in the country,” Karl Toriola, the chief executive officer of MTN Nigeria, said in the telco’s H1, 2024 financial statement.

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“There is also the issue of the cost of living, with people having the capacity to maintain only one SIM,” Ogunbanjo of NATCOMS echoed.

Despite these challenges, the NCC remains firm on the September 14 deadline, stressing the importance of SIM security for safeguarding national security and ensuring the integrity of mobile numbers. However, in January, Isa Pantami, the former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, revealed that security agencies are not fully utilising the SIM-NIN database to combat crime, such as kidnappings and phone-related offenses.

Analysts anticipate that the eventual barring of unlinked lines by September could impact telecom operator’s revenue. The average revenue per user (ARPU), i.e., the average revenue a telco generates on each active telephone user, was estimated at $3.92 in 2023. This implies that for every 1 million subscribers who fail to link their SIMs to a NIN by the deadline, telcos could lose approximately $3.92 million (N6.29 billion at N1606.56/$) in potential revenue.