This represents a 28 million increase from the 12 million telephone lines initially planned to be deactivated by telcos, following the NCC directive.

In a December 2023 notice, the NCC had asked telcos to bar SIMs that had not been linked to their owners’ NINs by February 28, 2024.

On Thursday, the NCC Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Mouka, ruled out an extension of the deadline, warning that telcos that failed to enforce the deadline would be sanctioned.

The Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria, Gbenga Adebayo, then disclosed to The PUNCH telcos would bar 12 million lines as a result of the directive.

However, on Sunday, the ALTON chair revealed that the number of barred lines had risen to 40 million, pointing out that SIMs without NIN were included in the number.

In an exclusive interview with The PUNCH, Adebayo said, “I can tell you that over 40 million lines have been blocked and the affected customers are those who didn’t submit their NIN at all. Some persons have not presented any NIN to operators. They haven’t registered their SIMs or participated in the harmonisation programme. They simply haven’t made any presentation of the NIN number to their operators and those were the persons blocked. So why is the number so alarming despite repeated warnings? It shows many people still communicate but are not registered.”

In the December 2023 notice, the NCC had also asked the Global Satellite Mobile Communications operators to bar SIMs holders whose NINs have been submitted but not verified by March 29, 2024; and interdict those who have less than five lines linked to an unverified NIN by April 15, 2024.

The Federal Government had, on December 16, 2020, introduced the SIM-NIN synchronisation initiative meant to enable security agencies to track criminals.

The synchronisation involves validating the NIN with the National Identity Management Commission and matching the subscriber’s NIN records with the SIM registration information (verification) to ensure proper subscriber identification.

However, Nigerians have raised questions on why security agencies have not used the SIM-NIN linkage to track criminals, especially bandits and kidnappers, who often use mobile telephone lines to speak with victims’ families during ransom negotiations.

Presently, there are 224.7 million active mobile telephone lines in the country, according to the information released by the NCC on its website.

On Sunday, the ALTON chairman did not give the breakdown of subscribers or SIMs that were deactivated by telcos over the weekend.

He said, “No, we currently don’t have the breakdown of disconnected lines per network right now but I know over 40 million lines have been deactivated.”

Adebayo further hinted that another series of disconnections would be implemented by the end of the month and mid April.

Adebayo said, “The second tier of disconnections that will happen are those who have provided NIN but have more than five Mobile Subscription Identification Numbers associated with their NIN, and these have not been verified. This is because some have differences in the order of their names, and some have differences in their date of birth. The information provided to the operator when they did the SIM registration is different from what they provided (to NIMC) when they did their NIN. Some subscribers also have some differences in other records that are very critical to their verification process.

“So these people who have more than five MSINs attached to their NIN and haven’t been verified will be disconnected effective March 30, 2024. So we may have more disconnections happening by the end of this month. If somebody has given a name that has not been verified and has been receiving text messages to verify and they haven’t done that, by March 30th, those people will be disconnected and the figures will further increase.”

He explained, “There are two sources of data-primary and secondary. During the first registration process, the customer’s information is on-boarded to a server when everyone did the SIM registration but the secondary record is for details given during NIN. Hence your primary record has to be uniform with the secondary data across the platforms before you can be verified.

“Furthermore,  for those who have less than five MSINs, by April 15th, they will be disconnected if they don’t harmonise their records before then. So we are going to go through a series of disconnections or service suspensions over the next two months if people don’t follow the laid down regulations.”

Reacting, the President, National Association of Telecoms Subscribers, Adeolu Ogunbanjo, has said the body will seek redress in court on Thursday if the deadline is not extended.

Adeolu, who confirmed that the number of barred subscribers was above 12 million earlier indicated, asked the NCC to consider the plight of customers and grant a 31-day extension.

The commission disclosed this in a statement on Thursday, signed by its Director, Public Affairs, Reuben Mouka, as a follow-up to its Pre-Disconnection Notice issued on January 8, 2024.

In the first notice, the commission stated that it has approved MTN Nigerian Communications Plc. to commence the phased disconnection of Globacom Limited with effect from January 18, 2024, due to a long-standing interconnection debt dispute between the parties.

Announcing its extension, the NCC said, “The commission is pleased to announce that the parties have now reached an agreement to resolve all outstanding issues between them. For this reason, and in the exercise of its regulatory powers in that regard, the commission has put the phased disconnection on hold for 21 days from today, January 17, 2024.

Whilst the commission expects MTN and Glo to resolve all outstanding issues within the 21 days, the commission insists that interconnect debts must be settled by all operating companies as a necessary component towards compliance with regulatory obligations of all licensees.”

It noted that its approval for disconnection would have potential impacts on consumers.

In its extension notice, the NCC stressed that mobile network operators and other licensees in the telecom industry must adhere to the terms and conditions of their licences, especially as contained in their interconnection agreements.

Earlier on Thursday, the commission said it was set to advise Globacom subscribers on the next steps following the expiration of a 10-day grace period for the barring of their lines from making calls to MTN lines.

Muoka said on Wednesday, “We will come out with some information about that. Most likely today, in the next few hours.”

The interconnect charge is the price telecom operators pay one another for calls terminating on their networks.

MTN and Glo have been at loggerheads over this fee for a period of time.

In 2019, MTN briefly disconnected Glo subscribers over a N4bn debt.

A source close to Glo has since said the telco has paid.

The source said, “We paid within the window allowed. So, it is surprising that this is happening. We made outstanding payments already.”

Another industry source confirmed the payment but noted that there are still issues with interest payments.

The source also stated that the National Assembly has waded in.

The source said, “It has not been resolved. The NCC has waded in, and they are waiting for the resolution. They (MTN) are still waiting for the NCC to tell them what to do. Even, the National Assembly has called the two firms.

“The owing party has paid a substantial part of what they owe. But they are still owing for the interest accrued and VAT remittance.”

The Director, Licensing and Authorisation, Mohammed Babajika, disclosed that the commission has finalised the framework for MVNOs and was currently in the process of licensing them.

He said this during the first ‘Talk-To-The Regulator’ forum for 2023, a two-day event held in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

According to him, the licensing of MVNOs will improve the telecommunication output of the country, enable the expansion and availability of quality mobile coverage and close the gap between the unserved and underserved population in Nigeria.

Babajika explained that the commission was reviewing its licence categories in line with global trends because it recognised that technological advancements in the industry such as artificial intelligence, big data, network as a service and the Internet of Things were redefining service delivery.

“While the commission is fully committed to discharging its mandate, it can only achieve this with the cooperation and support of licencees. The Commission, therefore, recognises the importance of various service providers and seeks to constantly engage with these service providers and thereby protect the health and growth of the telecoms industry,” he said.

Earlier, the Executive Vice Chairman, Prof Umar Danbatta, represented by the Head Pre-Licensing, Mr Usman Mamman, said the commission was reviewing the scope and structure of its existing licences to make them more robust and to accommodate some of the identified new industry trends.

He stated that NCC had taken measures to improve regulations to accommodate the rapid and continuous development to keep up to date with developments in the industry.

According to a statement issued by the association and signed by Chairman, Gbenga Adebayo, recently, the authorisation to disconnect Deposit Money Banks is due to the refusal to pay the debt owed to operators for Unstructured Supplementary Service Data services, to the tune of N120bn.

“Members of the public will recall that MNOs and DMBs have had protracted disagreements concerning the appropriate USSD pricing model for financial transactions, transparency of charges, mode of collection, and liability for payment of the outstanding and continuous service fees due to the MNOs (which currently stand at over N120 billion).”

The operators under the aegis of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria said that with the NCC’s approval, banks will be disconnected if they fail to pay up.

Following the debt problem ALTON explained that despite stakeholder efforts to resolve this situation and prevent any impact on services, led by the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Pantami, and including the NCC, the Central Bank of Nigeria, and MNOs and DMBs.

The banks refused to cooperate with the telecom operators over the payment of the debt. It noted that The DMBs have continually incurred debt, without efforts to settle previous payments.

Prior to making this decision, ALTON said in 2021 DMBs incurred a N42bn debt which the MNOs planned to take action on.

However, interventions from the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Prof. Pantami, discouraged the MNOs stating that the action would negatively impact the Digital and Financial Inclusion policy of the Federal Government.

“The Nigerian Communications Commission, Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria and Deposit Money Banks represented by the Chairman, Body of Bank CEOs subsequently met on 15 March 2021 to discuss indebtedness of DMBs to MNOs for USSD services.

In that regard, CBN and NCC issued a joint press statement on the agreement reached by all stakeholders.

“The Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy and the NCC have made several efforts to get the banks to show good faith and sign an agreement, in the national interest, based on the resolutions reached that meeting.

“Unfortunately, the patriotic intervention of the Minister and the NCC have been taken for granted by the DMBs, as two years after, the banks have failed to sign a final agreement,” ALTON explained.

“It is pertinent to note that the contract between MNOs and DMBs on the use of USSDs for banking transactions is strictly commercial and MNOs are at liberty to withdraw the services if it is established that the transaction is unprofitable to them.

ALTON highlighted that the MNOs had invested billions of naira in expanding its systems to accommodate the USSD needs of DMBs over the years.

Which has allowed Nigerians seamless access to banking services,” in addition to enabling banks to trim costs by requiring fewer branches to service their growing customers. Unfortunately, MNOs are not getting paid for their services, and the debt that stood at N42bn in 2021 has now risen to over N120bn,” the telcos added.

Operators opined that the current debt level was exorbitant taking into consideration of ongoing upgrades and operation of the systems and infrastructure dedicated to supporting USSD transactions for DMBs

The transaction, which covers 19 states in the country, permits the telecommunication company to lease two spectrums – 5HMz Frequency Division Duplex and 10HMz FDD from NTEL.

The transaction cost MTN Nigeria N4.25 billion and includes taxes, regulatory fees, and auxiliary charges as transaction costs while the spectrum lease is for a period of two-year, starting May 1, 2023, Nairametrics reports.

Speaking on the feat, the Chief Executive Officer of MTN Nigeria, Karl Toriola said, “This is a significant milestone in delivering our Ambition 2025 strategy. The access to NTEL’S 90OMHz and 1800MHz spectrums broadens our spectrum holdings and improves our 3G and 4G user experience as coverage and capacity will be enhanced by utilising these spectrums.”

In a statement released on Thursday, February 24, NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Dr Reuben Muoka, assured all users of telecommunications and banking services utilizing network facilities continued optimal service delivery before, during, and after the general elections in Nigeria.

“No network will witness any deliberate shutdown or disruptions, especially at this very crucial period of general elections in the country. The Nigerian public, consumers of telecommunications services, and all bank customers are advised to ignore these or similar messages that insinuate deliberate network shutdown or disruption of services in the Nigerian telecom network.

These malicious and subversive messages originated and are being circulated by fraudsters and unscrupulous elements in the society with the intent to cause chaos and panic among the populace,” he said.

Muoka said that the Commission had received unequivocal assurances from all the service providers to the effect that all network services are currently in optimal performance.

According to the commission, the group had been discovered to release apps containing trojans and adware that were harmful to users and their privacy.

The NCC-CSIRT stated this in an advisory on Tuesday.

It said, “The Nigeria Computer Emergency Response Team (ngCERT) has continued to observe and monitor the constant introduction of malicious mobile applications into Google Play Store. Mobile apps Group has a history of distributing malware-infected apps through the Google Play store, and the current batch of apps has already been downloaded over a million times.”

It stated that the group’s malicious apps included: Bluetooth Auto Connect; Bluetooth App Sender; Driver: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, USB; and Mobile transfer: smart switch.

It further disclosed that the malicious activities of these apps were high in probability and potential to do damage.

The NCC-CSIRT disclosed, “The apps will delay the display of ads for up to three days after installation to avoid detection.

“However, once this period has passed, the user is bombarded with advertisements and is directed to malicious phishing websites in the Chrome browser. While the device is idle, the malicious app can open Chrome tabs in the background. Some of the sites it opens may appear to be harmless, but they are pay-per-click pages that generate revenue for the developers when clicked on.”

It explained that the consequences of installing the malicious apps included the user being bombarded with advertisements, theft of sensitive user data, clicking on the ads resulting in the stealth download or installation of additional malware, as well as the user privacy and data being jeopardised.

This is as it revealed plans to issue two more 5G licences after announcing the auction for its remaining spectrum band on Friday.

It said, “The reserve price is the minimum price for one Lot of 100MHz TDD for a 10-year licence tenure fixed at $273.60m or its equivalent in Naira at the prevailing Central Bank of Nigeria rates at the time of the auction.”

According to the NCC, it is offering the remaining lots of 2 x 100MHz in the 3.5GHz spectrum band to support 5G deployment in the nation. It disclosed this in its ‘Information Memorandum on 3.5 GHz Spectrum Auction’ on Saturday.

It stated, “The Commission is offering the remaining 2 Lots of 100 MHz TDD Spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band ranging from 3400 – 3500 MHz and 3600 – 3700 MHz, totalling 200 MHz for auction. This will be awarded to winning bidders in the 100 MHz Lot.”

Since the NCC awarded its 5G spectrum, MTN has launched a 5G network in selected locations while Mafab is yet to establish.

In its new IM, the NCC said it will hold a public consultation regarding the draft IM soon. It revealed, “The commission will hold a public consultation in respect of the draft IM on November 15, 2022.

“This is in line with the Commission’s participatory rule-making process for the communications sector, to give stakeholders and interested parties an opportunity to review and comment on the draft IM before the final document is published.”

The commission added that applicants for the spectrum do not have to be licensed network operators in the nation but will need a Unified Access Service Licence if their bid is successful.

This is coming after the NCC auctioned and awarded two slots of 100Mhz of the said spectrum to MTN Communications Nigeria Plc and Mafab Communications Limited in December 2021. Prior to the December auction, the commission had disclosed that it was in the process of unclogging more spectrum bands.

The two telcos paid $273.6 million each for their 5G spectrum licence. At the time, the reserve price was $197.4m. At the time, experts in the industry kicked against the reserve price. According to them, it was beyond market realities.

According to NCC, the tariff increase “was in line with the mandates of the Commission as provided by the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003, and other extant Regulations and Guidelines,” but its implementation has been halted.

The commission added that the decision was also taken after a critical and realistic review and analysis of the operational environment and the current business climate in Nigeria, as it affects all sectors of the economy.

The statement reads in full;

PRESS STATEMENT

FG Directs Network Service Providers to Reverse Unilateral Upward Tariff Adjustment

The attention of the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, has been drawn to media reports of unilateral implementation of the recently approved 10% upward tariff adjustments for some voice and data services by the service providers, on their networks.

The consideration for 10% approval for tariff adjustments for different voice and data packages was in line with the mandates of the Commission as provided by the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003, and other extant Regulations and Guidelines, as this was within the provisions of existing price floor and price cap as determined for the industry. The decision was also taken after a critical and realistic review and analysis of the operational environment and the current business climate in Nigeria, as it affects all sectors of the economy.

Furthermore, even though the tariff adjustment was proposed and provisionally approved by the Management, pending the final approval of the Board of the Commission, in the end it did not have the approval of the Board of the Commission. As a result, it is reversed.

The Honourable Minister, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, has maintained that his priority is to protect the citizens and ensure justice to all stakeholders involved. As such, anything that will bring more hardship at this critical time will not be accepted. This was also why he obtained the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari for the suspension of the proposed 5% excise duty, in order to maintain a conducive enabling environment for the telecom operators. Much as there is an increase in the cost of production, the provision of telecom services is still very profitable and it is necessary that the subscribers are not subjected to a hike in charges.

In view of the above, the Commission, through a letter sent on the 12th of October 2022, has already directed the affected Mobile Network Operators to reverse the upward tariff adjustment. The Commission will carry our further consultations with all industry stakeholders on the best approaches that will protect and uphold the interest of both the consumers and the service providers.

The Commission will continue to entrench very transparent processes and procedures for rates determination in the industry. The process is usually carried out with wide industry consultation. It is through these processes that price floors and price caps for data and voice services are benchmarked, regularly reviewed, and determined from time to time.

The Commission will continue to abide by this time-tested process and international best practice to ensure efficient pricing mechanism for the telecommunications industry in Nigeria.

Signed:

Reuben Muoka
Director, Public Affairs

19th October 2022

The commission, through its Cyber Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT), identified vulnerabilities that hackers use in gaining unauthorised access to smartphones at public charging stations.

The first is described as Juice Jacking, which can gain access into consumers’ devices when charging mobile phones at public charging stations and it applies to all mobile phones. The other is a Facebook for Android Friend Acceptance Vulnerability, which targets only Android Operating System.

In the CSIRT security Advisory 0001, it was noted that Juice Jacking gives attackers channels to gain unauthorized entry into unsuspecting mobile phone users’ devices when they charge their mobile phones at public charging stations.

Many public spaces, restaurants, malls and even the public trains do offer complementary services to their customers in a bid to enhance customer services, one of which is providing charging ports or sockets. However, an attacker can leverage this courtesy to load a payload in the charging station or on the cables they would leave plugged in at the stations.

Once unsuspecting persons plug their phones at the charging station or the cable left by the attacker, the payload is automatically downloaded on the victims’ phone. This payload then gives the attacker remote access to the mobile phone, allowing them to monitor data transmitted as text, or audio using the microphone.

The attacker can also watch the victim in real-time if the victims’ camera is not covered. The attacker is also given full access to the gallery and also to the phone’s Global Positioning System (GPS) location.

When an attacker gains access to a user’s Mobile phone, he gets remote access to the User’s phone which leads to a breach in Confidentiality, Violation of Data Integrity and bypass of Authentication Mechanisms. Symptoms of attack may include a sudden spike in battery consumption, devices operating slower than usual, apps taking a long time to load, and when they load they crash frequently and cause abnormal data usage.

The NCC-CSIRT, however, proffered solutions to this attack to include using ‘charging only USB cable’, to avoid Universal Serial Bus (USB) data connection; using one’s AC charging adaptor in public space, and not granting trust to portable devices prompt for USB data connection. Other preventive measures against Juice Jacking include installing Antivirus and updating them to the latest definitions always; keeping mobile devices up to date with the latest patches; using one’s own power bank; keeping the mobile phone off when charging in public places; as well as ensuring use of one’s own charger if one must charge in public. The NCC-CSIRT Advisory 0001 also warned that Facebook for Android is vulnerable to a permission issue which gives privilege to anyone with physical access to the android device to accept friend requests without unlocking the phone. The products affected include Versions 329.0.0.29.120 of Android OS.

With this, the attacker will be able to add the victim as a friend and collect personal information of the victim, such as Email, Date of Birth, Check-ins, Mobile phone number, Address, Pictures and other information that the victim may have shared, which would only be visible to his/her friends.

To be protected from the Facebook-associated vulnerability, NCC-CSIRT in the security advisory recommends to users disable the feature from their device’s lock screen notification settings.

The NCC-CSIRT was inaugurated in October 2021 to provide guidance and direction for the constituents in dealing with issues relating to the security of critical infrastructure in their possession, and periodically assess, review and collate the threat landscape, risks, and opportunities affecting the communications sector, in order to provide advice to relevant stakeholders in those regards.