MTN Ghana has announced its intention to disconnect SIM cards belonging to subscribers who have failed to complete the biometric stage of its SIM registration process.
MTN Ghana, which is a significant subsidiary of MTN Group, said in a statement on Monday that the call follows a meeting held by the National Communications Authority (NCA) on November 17, where it issued a directive on unregistered SIM cards.
Reads the statement: “In compliance with the directive from the NCA communicated to all telecom operators in a meeting held on November 17 2022, MTN Ghana will commence the complete disconnection of all SIM cards that have completed stage one [linkage of Ghana card ID to SIM card] but have not completed stage two [biometric capture, not fully registered with the Ghana card] from December 1 2022.”
MTN said it has already complied with the first stage of the NCA’s directive which includes the deactivation of data services of SIM cards that have not fully registered with the Ghana card by November 20.
“MTN has already complied with the first stage of the directive by deactivating the data services of SIM cards that have not fully registered with the Ghana card on November 20 2022, as directed,” the company said.
It said after the SIM cards are deactivated on December 1, subscribers can reactivate them within six months by completing stage two, the bio-capture process. However, deactivated SIM cards will be recycled if they are not reactivated by the end of May 2023.
“MTN urges all its customers who are not fully registered to endeavor to do so as soon as possible at any of our service centres. MTN understands the inconvenience the deactivation has caused its customers and is willing to assist to get customers back online.”
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