Executive Vice-Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission, Dr. Eugene Juwah

The Executive Vice-Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission, Dr. Eugene Juwah, has said that 11 million Subscriber Identification Module cards have so far been registered in the first phase of the registration exercise, which began in May 2010.

The four Global System of Mobile telecommunication operators in the country are MTN Nigeria, Globacom, Etisalat Nigeria and Airtel Nigeria. They have a combined subscriber base of 81 million.

Juwah, who spoke in Lagos, on Friday, said that the telecoms regulatory body would begin the registration of the remaining 70 million existing SIM cards in February.

He said, “Telecoms operators have registered about 11 million SIM cards so far. NCC is going to register only the remaining existing subscribers and we are going to start registering them by February.”

Juwah, who recalled that the NCC’s N6.1bn budget for the registration exercise was a source of controversy at the National Assembly before it was passed, said that an auditing firm, KPMG, had been appointed as the project manager for the registration exercise in order to ensure accountability.

He said, “We have appointed KPMG as the project manager for the SIM card registration process in order to ensure accountability. We have to be accountable to Nigerians on the N6.1bn budget to be used for the registration process.

“With KPMG overseeing the registration exercise, we are sure of accountability.”

The NCC helmsman said the commission would soon sign a formal agreement with KPMG for the second phase of the registration exercise.

Juwah, who stated that the NCC had submitted its 2011 budget to the National Assembly since September 30, 2010, said, “We sought to manage a situation where SIM cards were still being sold in the streets, several months after the commission set the May 1, 2010 date for the operators to commence registration.

“We want to ensure that all new SIM cards are registered by the operators as mandated, and we expect them to render regular account of the numbers registered. We are now finalising arrangements to commence the registration of all existing SIM cards from February, 2011.”

Juwah also said that number portability would not be possible without SIM card registration.

Number portability makes it possible for subscribers to switch operators without changing their numbers.

He said, “Number portability is important because it deepens competition, but there are still some delays in executing some projects before number portability can be implemented.

“There is no way we can do number portability without doing SIM card registration. If you want to change from one operator to the other, you must know that the person who is trying to do that is the rightful owner of the number.”

Juwah, who responded to questions on whether the government or the operators should be responsible for registration of SIM, said that the Federal Government should be responsible for registering SIM cards in a country like Nigeria where comprehensive national database is currently non-existent.