The Nigerian telecoms regulator says it will unveil a nationwide coverage map that will assist phone subscribers to pick the best performing phone network in their vicinity by 2025.
Dr. Aminu Maida, Executive Vice Chairman and CEO, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says the planned coverage map, due to be released by the telecoms regulator in 2025, will be based on crowdsourced data that reflects actual operators’ performance data will provide Nigerians with valuable information to make choices that enhance their connectivity experience.
Additionally, Dr Maida says that NCC achieved a significant milestone in 2024 by successfully linking every SIM card in Nigeria to a verified National Identification Number (NIN) under the the NIN-SIM linkage ordered by the Federal Government to create a one-stop-shop identity database managed by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).
Additionally, Dr Maida says that NCC achieved a significant milestone in 2024 by successfully linking every SIM card in Nigeria to a verified National Identification Number (NIN) under the the NIN-SIM linkage ordered by the Federal Government to create a one-stop-shop identity database managed by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).
Dr Madia: NCC has linked every SIM in Nigeria with NIN
As of October 2024, Nigeria accounted for 157,600,321 active phone lines; 134,787,935 internet connections, and 91,576,992 broadband connections, according to NCC’s latest market information.
The Nigerian telecoms regulator, which posted a steep drop of 44,833,204 active phone lines representing a 26.04% subscription loss across the telecoms market between the April 2024 figures of 216,974,742, and May 2024 figures of 172,141,538, attributes the development to the “removal of Subscriber Identification Modules (SIMs) that are not linked to verifiable National Identification Numbers (NINs) and the rectification of a major discrepancy by a Mobile Network Operator explain the significant drop in Nigeria’s telecoms subscriber base.”
The NCC chief adds that, “another major milestone was the conclusion of the implementation of the Federal Government’s policy on the NIMC linkage, which provides a lot of opportunities for the digital economy, and the national security of the nation. As it is now, every single SIM card in the country is linked to a verified NIN. Now, this gives us a very strong foundation from a security perspective. We are able to now work with law enforcement agencies, and reliably give them the information of who owns what. But even more importantly is the fact that it gives us a foundation for the digital economy to build on.”
According to Dr Maida, “Now, you would agree with me that almost every transaction we perform today, in one way or the other, it links back to your mobile number, whether it is your e-commerce, registering for JAMB, just generally any service that wants to reach you for customer support. So having the ability to be able to clearly identify who knows what, would instill a lot of confidence and integrity in the system, which would lay the right foundations for the digital economy.”
NCC to provide coverage maps from crowdsourced data
According to him, “we are also going to be providing coverage maps towards the end of the year from crowdsourced data. So this is not going to be simulation data but actual performance data, which will show you what is the best network in your area. So no longer do you need to ask the man or woman next to you on recommendation on what is the best network, you can actually come to the NCC’s website and look at the data for yourself.”
The NCC chief made the disclosures in a video posted by Dr. Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications Innovation and Digital Economy, which highlights the progress made by government agencies under the purview of his Ministry in year 2024 and their plans for 2025.
In its past progress, Dr Maida, who was silent on the controversial issue of tariff adjustments agitations by telecoms companies, addresses concerns raised by Nigerians regarding data depletion. Following what he cites as a thorough examination of major Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), the NCC chief dispels the notion of widespread data depletion among Nigerian subscribers.
“Over the course on the past year,” Dr Maida says, “we had a hypothesis. It is indeed true that there is a data depletion issue in the industry. So the first thing we did was order the MNOs, the major MNOs. We just conducted a billing audit on their systems using reputable auditors. That exercise was completed, I think, in Q3 of this year. And surprisingly, we didn’t find any major issues. There were one or two minor issues, which the resolution is ongoing, but nothing major to support the perception that data has been depleted.”
Ahead of year 2025, Dr Maida says that “I am really optimistic we are going to build on the small gains which we’ve made in 2024, now that we’ve laid some of the necessary foundations, we’re going to see a lot more transparencies to help drive competition and services delivery amongst operators.”
According to him, “we are also going to be providing coverage maps towards the end of the year from crowdsourced data. So this is not going to be simulation data but actual performance data, which will show you what is the best network in your area. So no longer do you need to ask the man or woman next to you on recommendation on what is the best network, you can actually come to the NCC’s website and look at the data for yourself.”
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