News

NIN: Phone users complain over barred lines after linkage

Published

4 months ago

January 17, 2024

NIN: Phone users complain over barred lines after linkage

Some telcos subscribers have complained that their phone lines have been blocked despite linking their SIM with personal national identification numbers.

According to NAN, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), which regulates Nigeria’s telecommunications companies (Telcos) like MTN, Airtel, and Globacom, has told them to fully block all phone lines whose subscribers have not submitted their NINs or whose NINs have not been verified by February 28, 2024.

Additionally, the NCC said that NINs that had been submitted but not yet verified would be blocked on or before March 29, 2024.

This was also the case for NINs that had five or more lines related to them that had not yet been verified.

Additionally, if less than five lines are connected to an untrusted NIN, those lines will be banned on or before April 15, 2024.

On Tuesday night, NAN went to a lot of telecom customer service centres in Lagos and heard from customers who were upset about blocked lines at all of the stores, but especially at MTN shops.

People who signed up were mad that they could not make calls on their lines before the deadline on February 28.

Some of them said that they had already done what the NCC told them to do and linked their NINs to their SIM cards. They were shocked to find that their lines were still blocked.

A businessman named Marcel Okoh said that he got a message on his MTN line over the weekend, but he didn’t pay attention to it because he was done connecting his NIN-SIM.

Okayoh said that two days after the message was sent, he found that his SIM card had been removed, so he couldn’t use his phone to make calls or recharge it.

“The disconnection is uncalled for because I have done the needful and I should have been given time to make enquiries.”

Aisha Alao, a fashion designer who also has an MTN line, says that the operator cut her off without notice.

According to Alao, when she went to one of the MTN locations, the staff told her she needed to finish a NIN-SIM linkage.

A retired teacher named Mrs. Veronica Maduabunechukwu told NAN that she got a letter from Airtel telling her to disconnect, even though she had already finished her NIN-SIM linkage.

“The queue is still open, and I don’t see why it should be illegal.”

Another MTN user, Mrs. Chinenye Agbanusi, said that she had linked her NIN and SIM cards as early as 2020.

AGBANUSI told MTN she didn’t like how they blocked her queue even though they followed the right steps.

She also said the phone company should update its systems so that people who have already done what they need to do don’t have to deal with the same problems over and over again.

Globacom customer Miss Kanyinsola Oje said she got a message telling her to connect her SIM to NIN so she wouldn’t lose her connection.

After a few days of getting the letter, she realised that her queue was limited.

Miss Nkechi, who works at one of Airtel’s locations in Ketu, told the surveyors that customers had been coming to the office to complain about their SIM being disconnected.

Additionally, Olumide, a Globacom Agent in Ketu, said that customers had been complaining about their lines being blocked since December 2023.

He said that most of the users had said they had already finished the NIN-SIM linkage but were now having problems.

According to Olumide, the subscriber’s NIN registration name might be different from the name they used to register their SIM.

“One more problem could be that the line was given to someone else, so the name on the SIM card might still be that of the previous owner.”

In response to the complaints from customers, Mr. Funsho Aina, Senior Manager, External Relations, MTN, said that most of the banned lines were because they didn’t have enough data on them.

Aina said that it was likely that these users had finished the NIN-SIM linkage, but that the information that was recorded for NIN might not match the information that was registered for their SIM.

He said that if the data reported for NIN and SIM were different, it could affect how it was put together.

“For instance, I use Funsho to register my SIM card and Olufunsho, which is also my name, to register for the NIN.”

“Even if I do the NIN-SIM linkage, in collating by the telco, the technology might not be able to link the names to one person and the line would be disconnected until the discrepancy is corrected,” he mentioned.

However, Aina said that self-help activities could be used to fix these problems and get back together.

He told people to make a Virtual NIN (VNIN) at https://nin.mtn.ng/nin.

“On your smart phone, you can also call *996*3#.

“Select option three for Virtual NIN.” If you want to move forward, enter your NIN and your Enterprise ID, which is “109071.”

“You can also make a VNIN by dialling *346*3*your 11-digit NIN*109071#,” Aina said.

The MTN rep also said that because MTN has more subscribers than other carriers, their customers seemed to be hit more.

NIN: Phone users complain over barred lines after linkage

News

Nigeria to reduce electricity supply to Niger Republic, Benin, Togo

Published

39 mins ago

May 5, 2024

Trends Admin

Nigeria to reduce electricity supply to Niger Republic, Benin, Togo

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has ordered the System Operator (SO), a department in the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to commence the capping of power supply to cross-border customers in Benin Republic, Niger and Togo, in a bid to increase power availability to Nigerians.

This is coming as the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu has disclosed that the federal government and the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) will make capital injections of N750 billion and N250 billion annual debt financing, respectively, to bride the huge electricity metering gap in the country that currently stands at about seven million.

In a document tagged: ‘Interim Order on Transmission System Dispatch Operations, Cross-border Supply and Related Matters’, the power sector regulator stated that the directive will last for six months in the first instance before review.

Nigeria supplies a portion of the electricity it generates to some of its neighbours, including the Benin Republic, Niger Republic, and Togo.

NERC’s order, dated April 29, 2024, and which became effective from May 1, 2024, was signed by the commission’s Chairman, Sanusi Garba, and Vice Chairman, Musiliu Oseni andIn the order, the regulatory agency directed that power delivery to Nigeria’s neighbours must not exceed six per cent of total grid electricity at any point in time.

The electricity sector regulator stressed that following the implementation of the April 2024 supplementary order, the commission had observed sub-optimal grid dispatch operation practices.

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It argued that this has compromised the Distribution Companies’ (Discos) ability to deliver on its Service Based Tariff (SBT) committed service levels to end-use customers with a significant impact on market revenues.NERC said the system operator’s sole reliance on limiting Discos’ load off-take/allocation in managing recurring grid imbalances while prioritising international off-takers and Eligible Customers (ECs) is neither efficient nor equitable.The practice so far adopted by the operator in managing generation availability, it said, has caused significant hardship to Discos’ customers, comprising industrial, commercial, and residential, especially during peak demands while prioritising delivery to other bilateral contracts, including export to international customers.

The commission noted that the current international and bilateral contracts with Generation Companies (Gencos) were based on best-endeavour and with loose terms that are often below the minimum contract standards currently operated in the industry.

It said many of the off-takers contracted bilaterally by Gencos often abuse this prioritisation and raise their off-takers during peak operations beyond their contracted levels at the expense of other grid users without attendant penalties for violation of grid instructions.

According to NERC, the order serves as an interim measure to guide the operations of the system operator and the TCN to implement Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to improve transparency and fairness of grid operations in delivering better services to all customers.It urged the system operator to place interim caps on capacities supplied to international customers for six months from the effective date of the order, thus minimising the displacement and impact on domestic supply obligations by Gencos.

“The commission hereby orders as follows: The system operator shall develop and present to the commission for approval within seven days from the issuance of this order a pro-rata load-shedding scheme that ensures equitable adjustment to load allocation to all off-takers — Discos, international customers, and eligible customers — in the event of a drop in generation and other under-frequency related grid imbalances necessitating critical grid management.

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“The system operator shall implement a framework to log and publish hourly readings and enforce necessary sanctions for violation of grid instructions and contracted nominations by off-takers in line with the grid code and market,” it stated.Among others, it further directed that the system operator shall publish and notify all market participants and the commission of the previous day’s hourly log readings of off-take by market participants and the market settlements report by 12:00 noon of the next day.

“The system operator shall ensure that the maximum load allocation to international off-takers in each trading hour shall not be more than six per cent of the total available grid generation.

“The aggregate capacity that can be nominated by a generating plant to service international off-takers shall not be more than 10 per cent of its available generation capacity unless in exceptional circumstances a derogation is granted by the commission.

“The system operator shall henceforth cease to recognise any capacity addition in bilateral transactions between a generator and an off-taker without the express approval of the commission,” it added.

It urged the system operator and TCN to immediately initiate and install integrated Internet of Things (IoT) meters at all off-take and delivery points of eligible customers, bilateral supplies, cross-border trades, and outgoing 33kV feeders of the Discos to provide real-time visibility of aggregate offtake by grid customers.“The installation of and streaming of data from the IOT meters should be completed within three months from the date of this order,” it added.

Nigeria to reduce electricity supply to Niger Republic, Benin, Togo

(THISDAY)

News

Edo, Delta areas to experience two-week power outage – TCN

Published

48 mins ago

May 5, 2024

Trends Admin

Edo, Delta areas to experience two-week power outage – TCN

The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has announced a two-week power outage starting on May 4 in parts of Edo and Delta states.

In a statement released in Benin by Ndidi Mbah, the General Manager of Public Affairs at TCN, it was revealed that the outage is necessary for the safe erection of two 132KV transmission towers at the Amukpe substation.

Benin DisCo will not receive bulk power supply during this period through several feeders, including Adeje, Industrial Woodland, Mosogar, Sapele, and Abraka.

“The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), hereby states that it will commence the erection of two number 132kV transmission towers at its Amukpe Transmission Substation.

”And will equally restring a portion of the Benin-Delta and Delta-Oghara 132kV double circuit transmission lines from Saturday, May 4 to May 17, 2024.

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“Consequently, Amukpe Substation will be out of power for the work.

“Also, there will be no bulk power supply to Benin DisCo (BEDC) through the following feeders: the Adeje, industrial Woodland, Mosogar, Sapele and Abraka feeders.

“The outage is necessary to create a safe working environment for the contractor. Completion of the projects will establish N-1 redundancy, which would enable TCN to supply bulk electricity to the substation from either the Benin or Ughelli transmission line.

“This means that when one transmission line is faulty, bulk electricity can still be received in the substation from the second line,” Mbah said.

These developments, once completed, will ensure a more reliable and flexible bulk power supply through the Amukpe transmission substation.

It’s important to note that BEDC is responsible for the retail distribution of electricity in Delta, Edo, Ekiti, and Ondo States, covering an area of 57,353 square kilometres.

Edo, Delta areas to experience two-week power outage – TCN

News

Coastal highway project to disrupt DStv, GOtv services

Published

54 mins ago

May 5, 2024

Trends Admin

Coastal highway project to disrupt DStv, GOtv services

DStv and GOtv customers in Nigeria have been notified to expect disruption in service from Sunday, May 5, to Tuesday, May 7, due to the ongoing construction project on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.

In a notice shared on social media on Friday, DStv assured customers that its technical team will be working to relocate its facility and minimise service disruptions during the process.

The statement read, “Our uplink facility will be impacted by the ongoing Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road construction project. As a result, we are forced to relocate.

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“From Sunday, May 5, 2024 to Tuesday May 7, 2024, our technical team will be working tirelessly to relocate and minimise disruptions during the exercise.

“We appreciate your patience and understanding during this period and remain dedicated to delivering the quality service and support you expect from DStv and GOtv.”

Recall that demolition for the 700km Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway commenced on Monday.

According to the Minister of Works, David Umahi, the duration of the construction is eight years, and it will be constructed for N15 trillion.