Nigeria has ordered telecommunications companies, including MTN Group and Airtel Africa, to suspend the sale of Sim cards while authorities check their compliance with registration guidelines. It didn’t say how long the review would take.
“Mobile network operators are hereby directed to immediately suspend the sale, registration and activation of new Sim cards until the audit exercise is concluded,” the Nigerian Communications Commission said in a statement on its website.
The NCC fined MTN in 2015 for failing to disconnect undocumented Sim cards as part of a security crackdown. The matter was resolved a year later when the company paid N330-billion (US$839-million) after extensive negotiations.
Johannesburg-based MTN’s local unit, the West African country’s biggest wireless operator, said it had complied with the latest directive, according to a notice it sent to customers.
Airtel Africa, which listed in Lagos and London last year, vies with local operator Globacom as the country’s second biggest carrier. — Reported by Emele Onu, (c) 2020 Bloomberg LP