More than 20 million MTN Nigeria subscribers blocked from making calls

Nigerian authorities have ordered all cellphone companies to block all phones that are not linked to ID numbers from making outgoing voice calls.

On Wednesday morning, MTN confirmed that it has complied with the directive – which affects nearly a third of its subscribers in Nigeria, or 20 million people.

“In line with operating licence requirements, MTN Nigeria has complied with the directive and implemented the restrictions on only outgoing voice calls of affected subscribers. All other services remain available to all subscribers, including those that are yet to submit their National Identity Numbers (NINs),” MTN said in a statement.

Nigeria is the continent’s most populous nation and MTN’s largest market.

The mobile operator has around 68.5 million subscribers in the country, and it said that around 47 million users  –  approximately 67% of its subscriber base – submitted their NINs by 31 March. These complying subscribers account for 76% of its N1.7 trillion (around R59 billion) service revenue for the 2021 financial year.

“Outgoing voice revenue from the current subscribers who have not submitted a NIN amounts to about 9% of MTN Nigeria’s total FY 2021 service revenue on an annualised basis,” MTN said. For the MTN group this amounts to around 3% of its 2021 financial service revenue on an annualised basis.

The company said it supports the government’s drive and it’s trying to get more subscribers on board, with 4 200 “points of enrolment” across the country.

In November MTN announced that it planned to sell shares in its Nigeria unit worth about 101 billion naira (around R3.5 billion), as part of a plan to dispose of assets and pay down debt.

MTN’s share price dropped more than 7% on Tuesday in the wake of the Nigerian Communications Commission’s directive, but its statement on Wednesday morning did a little to recover investor sentiment with a 3% jump in morning trade. fin24.com