MTN complies with NCC order; deactivates 4.5 million numbers.

Finally, MTN is toeing in line with NCC directives, the telecommunications giant have announced that they scraped 4.5 million Lines that did not comply with the SIM reregistration directive given by the Company since last year.

Based on a report by Bloomberg, MTN’s Executive Chairman, Phuthuma Nhleko is quoted to have said that “In order to mitigate any future regulatory challenges, the group took an exceptionally conservative stance by disconnecting all subscribers who could possibly be deemed to be non-compliant.” Mr. Nhleko further stated that “this has had a significant unfavorable impact on total subscriber growth and revenue” in the first quarter. According to MTN, their customer base decreased by 1.4 percent to about 229 million across 22 countries in the three months through March, compared with the previous quarter.

NCC’s spat with MTN resulted form the regulatory body’s aim to curb possible Boko Haram terrorists from making use of mobile numbers carry out nefarious activities.Beforw now, these mobile number were near untraceable by security operatives because of improper documentation of details by Network providers. For those who don’t know the story, MTN failed to disconnect improperly registered numbers, this lead to their being fined $5.2 billion. After much considerations, the said amount was reduced by NCC. Apparently, unsatisfied by this gesture, MTN sought aid from the court to prove that NCC had no legal right to levy them such a fine. Fast forward to this present day, MTN seems to have made some payments and both are settling out of court. However, MTN has incurred some damages as a result of this fine. This evidenced by the decline in their stock value by almost 21 percent since the fine saga began.

That said, MTN will be looking to bounce back from this set backs, for this reason they will increase promos and adverts to lure new users and keep the ones they already have. So it is a win-win situation of current and upcoming users. Don’t be surprised when see a promo promising a plan or an ATM stuffed with cash if you recharge a certain amount of credit or apply for a promo – just joking, however, the win a plane promo was done by MTN some years ago, if you can remember, I think the comedian ‘Yaw’ was the face of that advert.

What possible promos do you think we will see? Share your thoughts in the comment box below.