96.7m Lines To Go As NCC Mandates Telcos To Deactivate Inactive Subscribers

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has given the nod for Telecommunications companies (Telcos) to deactivate the 96.7 million inactive subscribers from their networks after six months of inactivity.

Recall that unused or abandoned lines on MTN, Airtel, Globacom, and 9mobile networks climbed to 96.7 million in February 2023, according to a report from the Nigerian Telecommunication Commission’s most recent subscriber statistics release (NCC).

The NCC, in its newly approved guidelines, titled, ‘Draft Quality of Service Business Rules’, stipulate that, if a subscriber remains inactive for an additional six months, there is a possibility of losing their number, unless there is a network-related issue preventing the activation of the Registered Glove Enclave (RGE).

“A subscriber’s line may be deactivated if it has not been used, within six months, for a Revenue Generating Event (RGE), and if the situation persists for another six months, the subscriber may lose their number, except for a network-related fault inhibiting an RGE,” the guidelines reads.

The NCC stated that subscribers who want to retrieve their lines after they may have been recycled must show “proof of good reason for absence and are at liberty to request for line parking.”

In regards to credit alert notifications, the NCC recommended that telecommunications operators (telcos) shall give the call initiator “a single short-beep” two minutes before the call is scheduled to cease and another beep 30 seconds before termination.

The NCC further stated that a low credit message should be aired at the beginning of a call if it cannot last for up to 30 seconds.

In accordance with Section 57 of the NCC Act, these new guidelines have been published, allowing stakeholders to comment on the policy.

The NCC also instructed telcos to guarantee that clients be attended to within 30 minutes of their arrival at any of the telcos’ service centers nationwide in the recommendations.

“For customer care centers, the wait period to have appropriate staff physically attend to you at the center is 30 minutes. According to the policy, “The licensee shall provide means of measuring the waiting time, beginning from the time of arrival at the premises.”

The commission further stated that telcos must make sure that clients are promptly assisted when they contact a helpline or go to the offices of their service providers.

“Lines shouldn’t repeat more than three times, there shouldn’t be more than five rings before a call is answered by an IVR system or a live agent, and if a customer chooses to speak with a live agent, the queue or IVR should be available for a maximum of five minutes before an answer.

“In exceptional circumstances where a live agent may not be available to answer the call within five minutes, a customer should be given the option to hang up and be called back within a maximum of 30 minutes,” the regulatory body continued. 21 free access numbers that can be used to reach customer service lines; if only one number is used, it should be able to handle several network calls at once,” NCC averred.