Telcos lose 10% revenue, as subscribers groan over SIM-NIN linkage

By ADEBAYO OBAJEMU

For many Nigerians, Federal Government’s directive of Monday, April 4, 2023, directing telecommunications companies to bar outgoing calls on unlinked mobile lines, following the expiration of the extension for the integration of the NIN and SIM on March 31, 2022, have had devastating effect on their businesses and social relations.

They have continued to lament the increasing difficulty they face in registering for the National Identification Number (NIN) and linking the same to the Subscriber Identification Model (SIM) as directed by the Federal Government.

According to reports, about 73 million active mobile phones were barred from outgoing calls after the government extended the deadlines for the NIN-SIM linkage on multiple occasions to allow Nigerians and legal residents to freely comply with the policy. But the outcome of the directive has also been hard on telecommunications companies which have lamented huge losses.

For example, telco operator, Airtel Nigeria last week said it has suffered serious revenue loss as about 8.5 million of its customers are yet to comply with the linkage. Airtel Nigeria noted that only 35.9 million out of its 44.4 million active customers had linked their NIN with their SIMs as at the end of April 2022, about one month since the barring.

So, 8.5 million subscribers of Airtel had yet to comply and were said to have been placed on ‘receive only’ status, meaning all their outgoing calls would not go through but would receive incoming calls. Airtel Africa, the parent body of the Airtel Nigeria, made this known in its financial report for the year, ended March 2022.
Airtel noted that the number of its customers that were yet to link their NIN had affected its revenue for the year by 7 percent.

Airtel Africa report said, “As of the end of April 2022, we have collated NIN information for 35.9 million active customers. Outgoing voice revenues for those active subscribers who have not yet linked their NIN with their SIM amount to around 7 percent of total revenues from Nigeria, and around 3 percent of total revenues for the Group.

“However, our experience of adopting similar procedures in other countries suggests that SIM registration is accelerated, and some SIM consolidation is likely to occur in response to implementation, potentially reducing any financial impact.

“As of the end of the year, Airtel Nigeria had an active customer base of 44.4 million and posted revenue of $1.878 million. We continue to work closely with the regulator and impacted customers to help them to comply with the registration requirements, making every effort to minimise disruption and ensure affected customers can continue to benefit from full-service connectivity as soon as possible; in line with our aim to drive increased connectivity and digital inclusion across Nigeria.

About 37 million telecoms subscribers across networks have been affected by the order. Some of the subscribers who spoke with BusinessHallmark said they are disturbed that they could not make outgoing calls from their SIM cards, and have become incommunicado because their SIM cards have been deactivated, following the directive from the federal government to deactivate all unlinked SIM cards.

According to statistics obtained by Business Hallmark from the website of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the telecoms industry regulator, Nigeria has a total of 198,127,431 active subscriber lines across network as at February this year, but the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ibrahim Pantami, who gave the order to deactivate all unlinked SIM cards, said before the order was given a month ago, 125 million subscribers have had their NINs submitted for immediate linkage, verification and authentication.

Given the total number of 198 million active lines across networks, and the 125 million subscribers that have submitted their NINs, it shows that over 73 million active lines have not been submitted for linkage, and they must have been affected by the federal government’s order.

However, some of the subscribers told this medium that what they have experienced even after linking their Sim to NIN is stranger than fiction, as new disturbing complication kept popping up. A subscriber, Yinka Oladele complained that even after complying with the federal government’s order to register, obtain NIN and link NIN to SIM, she was still affected, because she suddenly discovered that she could no longer make calls lines.

According to the Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Mr. Gbenga Adebayo, in an interview, telecoms operators began the enforcement to deactivate all unlinked SIM cards, immediately after the order was given to them by the NCC, as directed by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy.

According to Adebayo, “We, The Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) can confirm that our members have received formal directives from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to bar out-going calls on subscriber lines that are not in compliance with the NIN-SIM linkage Policy requirement that all Subscriber Identification Modules (SIMs) must be linked with a National Identification Number (NIN).

“ALTON members are committed to complying with the instructions and call on telecommunication subscribers who have not obtained and/or linked a NIN to their SIMs, to do so at any of the designated centres.”

The recent order that led to the current difficulties for both subscribers and telecommunications companies came 16 months after the federal government gave the first order in December 2020 to deactivate all SIM cards that were not registered and linked to NIN.

Recall that Pantami, had in December 2020, directed the NCC to order telecoms operators to deactivate any SIM card that was not duly registered and linked to subscribers’ NIN, after the initial December 31, 2020 deadline, given for NIN-SIM linkage.

Josiah Aderibigbe, an IT expert told BusinessHallmark that “The standing order of the Federal Government on deactivation of over 70 million SIM lines not linked with NIN is fast taking a huge toll on telecom operators’ revenue base, even as many subscribers continue to groan over their inability to make calls.

Aderibigbe noted that ” using the current monthly Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) of N2, 500 for half of a month (15 days), revealed that about N43 billion may have been lost in the last two weeks by telcos due to the inability of millions of subscribers to make calls.

According to him, ARPU is the total revenue divided by the number of subscribers of telecom operators per month. Nigeria’s ARPU stands at $4.14 (about N2,500).

Observers are of the view that should Government remains adamant in not unbarring the deactivated lines, the telcos will feel the financial heat, as many of their respective customers will not patronise them by buying airtime and making calls.

According to statistics from the Nigerian Communications Commission, MTN and Airtel are the two major call carriers in the nation. In its industry statistics report for 2020, a total 150,825,830,687.40 minutes of calls were made. Of this number, a total of 145,420,101,695 calls (96.42 percent) were made from MTN lines (103,531,547,686 minutes), while the remaining (41,888,554,009 minutes) were made on Airtel network.

Yetunde Obamo, a business woman told BusinessHallmark that “I cannot quantify my loss since my main Airtel line was deactivated. I have made series of efforts , as i speak I cannot make call. Since the development, i have been using my husband’s line to reply my customers who call my line.”

Her story is not different from Martin Chukwumah, a spare parts dealer at Jankara, Àlagbado. He complained of declining business because of his inability to connect with his customers.

“Many of them have since moved elsewhere to buy their spare parts since I cannot reply their orders most times.

Professor Adeagbo Moritiwon a political scientist blamed subscribers for not taking the SIM-NIN linkage serious.

“You know the typical Nigerian character, they will only get serious at the eleventh hour, else, this thing has been on for months.”