THE Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said that it will intensify the enlightenment campaign on the on-going nationwide Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) registration, to ensure its success and justify the amount invested on the project.The commission equally urged various contractors to step up measures to ensure the success of the exercise across the country.NCC had contracted seven firms, including SW Global, Private Networks Nigeria (PNN), Chams, Joint Komputer Kompany (JKK), DATAGROUPIT, EAGLE/CBC and E-Kenneth/SageMetrics. The contractors are being coordinated by KPMG.Head, Media and Public Relations of the commission, Mr. Reuben Muoka, who the disclosure during an interactive session with reporters in Abuja, on Tuesday, said the current campaign will include radio jingles in local languages, giving subscribers the location of SIM card registration centres in all the states of the federation.He said SIM card registration centres will continue to grow in various states of the federation and that some of the registration agents will move around with mobile units to cover areas that may not have fixed registration centres in any particular location, such as markets and other similar areas.In the NCC SIM registration centres, subscribers are able to register all their SIM cards irrespective of any network, at the same spot. But the commission said all those who have already registered with their telecom service providers need not come for the registration undertaken by the operators. They will be collated for the same purpose at the central data-base for all subscribers in the country.The general elections, which ended last week, have given subscribers a relaxed atmosphere to enable them to register their SIM cards with NCC appointed registration vendors nationwide, he statedIt will be recalled that the Chairperson, Women in Technology in Nigeria (WITIN), Mrs. Martha Alade, in a chat with The Guardian recently, urged the NCC to ensure adequate monitoring of the SIM card registration exercise.Alade, who said the NCC initiative was aimed at ensuring that all GSM phone terminal operators in Nigeria registered was both timely and laudable, added that the huge investment in the programme called for effective monitoring of contractors hired by the regulator.Alade, at post-event interview, stressed that, it would do all parties involved in the project good, including the subscribers, operators, regulator and the government, if the project could be successful and delivered within the specified time, adding that it would also ensure that the country has a central data-base for future statistical usage.The WITIN chairperson noted that, operators including MTN, Globacom, Airtel and Etisalat must also be commended for how far they have gone with theirs. I believe strongly, that the operators, MTN, Globacom, Airtel and Etisalat are not relenting in their quest to register their subscribers too, but I will also implore them to monitor their registration and to ensure that their respective agents are doing the job the way they were told.According to her, Identity Mobility is the biggest advantages of the GSM network and the use of SIM cards to identify phones users must be encouraged.The Commission had on March 28, 2011, flagged-off the six-month nationwide SIM registration exercise, which will end on September 28, 2011.
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