Since the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) ordered all operators to restrict outgoing calls for subscribers whose SIMs are not linked to NINs, according to technology company MTN, about 10 million of those impacted have provided their NIN, of which about 2.6 million have been reactivated after being verified by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).
MTN stated that it will keep in touch with its impacted clients and assist NIMC in speeding up NIN enrollment in the nation.
This was revealed by Karl Toriola, the chief executive officer of MTN Nigeria, in the company’s unaudited results for the six-month period ended June 30, 2022.
According to Toriola, the company invested N311.6 billion in the first quarter to speed up the rollout of the 4G network, which now covers 75.3% of the population (up from 65.1% in the first quarter of 2021) and accounts for 77.9% of data traffic (compared to 67.2 per cent in H1 2021).
Additionally, he added that the company is on track to roll out 5G services nationwide in Q3 2022 after purchasing one lot of 100MHz in the 3.5GHz spectrum band from the NCC. He added that the technology delivers noticeably faster speeds and lower latency, potentially opening up a wide range of new use cases for consumers and businesses while enhancing network economics.
The MTN CEO claimed that with a net acquisition of 5.7 million mobile users in H1, the company maintained excellent commercial momentum.
After the early effects of the restriction on outgoing calls placed on subscribers who had not submitted their NIN as of April 4, 2022, this represents a pleasant acceleration in the run-rate of monthly net additions during Q2. This recovery was aided by our relentless pursuit of gross connections as we increased capacity for SIM registration and NIN enrolling.
“As we continued to promote data conversion from the new and current customer base, we added 2.5 million active data subscribers in H1.” In order to meet the growing demand for data, we also keep improving the quality and reach of our network.
“In the first half of the year, we made significant strategic progress toward implementing our Ambition 2025 goal. This includes receiving final permission for our MoMo Payment Service Bank (PSB) and starting up business on May 19, 2022, building on the strong foundation of our current MoMo operation.
“We are happy with the development since launch and enthusiastic about the potential of our fintech company and promoting financial inclusion in the nation. By the end of June 2022, there were 4.2 million registered MoMo wallets, of which 2.4 million were active. Within the first six weeks of operation, there were nearly seven million MoMo transactions.
According to the MTN CEO, the Board of Directors has approved an interim dividend of N5.60 per share to be paid from distributable net income in accordance with the company’s dividend policy. According to him, this is an increase of 23.1% over the N4.55 kobo per share paid in the first quarter of 2021.
Additionally, he stated that the company has made significant strides in its pursuit of rural telephony as part of the effort to create sustainable civilizations. “We added 370 rural sites in H1 2022, increasing the total to 1,553. We are still dedicated to promoting more unconnected people’s access to telecommunications.
In the 2022 edition of the ICT and business skills training, the MTN Nigeria Foundation continued its activities, teaching over 900 youngsters across six states, of whom 200 got equipment donations worth N40 million.
Additionally, he added, “the Foundation finished and handed over completely furnished ICT Labs in 27 public secondary schools in 23 States, erected solar-powered boreholes in 16 States, and upgraded seven primary health care centers across the country.
