CEM REPORT | Airtel Nigeria has revealed that it lost N14.1 billion ($34 million) at the close of the second quarter of 2022 (Q2’22).
The telecom operator attributed the loss to the failure of some of its customers to link their National Identification Number (NIN) with their SIMs.
The quarterly report presented by its mother company, Airtel Africa, for the period ended June 30, 2022, reveals that 8.3 million customers of the telcos were yet to submit their NINs which slowed down growth by 7.5 percent.
“in a loss of approximately $34m revenue in the quarter and a corresponding impact of 7.5 percentage points on the growth rate.
“Revenues for those subscribers who have not yet linked their NIN with their SIM amount to around 7% of total revenues from Nigeria, and around 3% of total revenues for the Group.”
The company explained that, according to the directive of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) that all SIMs that have not been linked to a NIN were to be placed on ‘receive only’ status from 4 April 2022, a total of 13.6 million Airtel customers were barred of which 5.3 million (39%) have submitted their NIN and 2.3 million (17%) have been verified and unbarred.
“Airtel Nigeria was subsequently notified that with effect from 4 April 2022, all SIMs that have not been linked to a NIN were to be placed on ‘receive only’ status, meaning all their outgoing calls have been barred with immediate effect. Subscribers of such lines can still link their SIMs to their NINs so that these restrictions can be lifted.
“A total of 13.6 million customers were initially barred out of which 5.3 million (39%) have subsequently submitted their NIN and 2.3 million (17%) have subsequently been verified and unbarred. As of the end of June 2022, we had collated NIN information for 40.7 million active customers.”
The report added that SIM registration has accelerated, and some SIM consolidation is ongoing in response to implementation, which it believes will potentially reduce future financial impact.
[READ ALSO] 68 million Northern Nigerians are Active on the Internet
Airtel further said it would continue to work closely with the NCC and affected customers to help them comply with the registration requirements, making every effort to minimise disruption and ensure affected customers can continue to benefit from full-service connectivity as soon as possible.
