Nigerians Abandon 24.38 Million SIM-Cards In Two Years – NCC

The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC said it is researching to confirm why over twenty million Subscriber Identity Module (SIM cards) are abandoned by citizens.

The commission revealed in its recent analysis that the number of abandoned mobile lines grew by 24.38 million in the last two years.

Naija News understands from the statistic released by the commission that the lines, though unused, are still connected and potentially active.

However, due to the inactiveness of some of those lines, they add no value to the growth of the national network.

According to the analysis of industry statistics from the NCC, in January 2020, there were 83.81 million unused lines in the nation. By January 2022, the number had grown to 108.47 million. The NCC report stated there were 269,835,804 connected lines in January 2020, of which 185,742,016 were active, and 84,093,788 were inactive.

It revealed further that in January 2022, there were 305,623,582 connected lines, of which 197,152,773 were active, and 108,470,809 were inactive. During the time under review, the peak number of connected lines was 328,114,538 in August 2021.

The peak number of active lines was recorded in October 2020 at 207,954,737 lines. The Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria, Gbenga Adebayo, told the PUNCH in an interview earlier.

He though noted that the reason the lines were unused was as a result of multiple occurrences rather than single events.

Adebayo said, “It is a combination of many things. It could be people having multiple lines that they do not use.

“Traditionally, a lot of people carry more than one phone. Some have an office line; some have private lines but use one more often than the other. Some are in the Diaspora, who though they hold Nigerian SIM cards, are not residents here.

“Some are students, who for half of the term are not around. It also depends on how and why these lines are said to be unused; and for what period, because you could have someone not using their lines for three months, and after three months start to use them again”

Adebayo stated that having a high number of unused lines isn’t a cause for concern.

He added that there was a need to explore the demographics of the report to better understand the reasons subscribers may not be using their lines.

Recall that the NCC and National Identity Management Commission had said that one Nigerian could have as many as three SIMs registered in their name.

In one of the statements announcing the extension of the SIM-NIN linkage deadline to October 31, 2021, the commissions said, “There are now a total of 59.8 million unique NIN enrolments, with an average of three to four SIMs per NIN,” Naija News recalls.