NCC Regulatory enforcements Q1 2019(1): Monitoring of Compliance with the Commission’s Direction on Routing of a Minimum of 10% of Interconnect Traffic

IT News Nigeria:

NCC’s Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement Report which covers Quarter1,2019 reveals some remarkable regulatory feats of the telecoms apex regulator:

Monitoring of Compliance with the Commission’s Direction on Routing of a Minimum of 10% of Interconnect Traffic by Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) Through Interconnect Exchange Licensees

Pursuant to the directive that Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and interconnection clearing houses should forward their interconnect traffic to the Commission on monthly basis, the Commission received submissions from Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) – MTN, Airtel, EMTS, Globacom and Interconnect Clearing Houses (ICN, Breeze, Exchange Telecoms, Nicoon X), for the Quarter 4 of 2018.

The analysis of the report showed that only Globacom did not comply with the direction of routing at least 10% of its traffic to the Clearing Houses. Consequently, the Commission took appropriate action against the operator.

Compliance Monitoring of Guidelines on Sim Replacement

In Q1, 2019 the audit exercise on Subscriber Identification Number (SIM) Replacement Guidelines in the Nigerian Telecoms Industry took place against the background of prevalence of complaints regarding illegal SIM Swap by fraudulent individuals in the telecoms market. The Commission had established a Guideline for SIM Replacement which came into effect on 9th June, 2017.

Consistent with NCC mandate as enshrined in Section 89 of the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA) 2003, the Commission prepared a quarterly audit exercise of MNOs’ platforms with a view to ascertaining the level of compliance with the Commission’s Guideline on SIM Replacement. Requirements and procedures were outlined by the Commission to safeguard subscriber’s identity from fraudulent activities of some criminal elements in the telecoms sector. The audit exercise was considered very critical in reducing instances of fraudulent SIM upgrade and replacement which accounted for financial loss and security breaches in the country. The appropriate departments of NCC are currently working on processes to address and manage the findings from the audit exercise in a manner that will quantifiably address the challenges of fraud around SIM cards.