MTN Ghana blocks 4.8 million users who failed to re-register their SIMs with the Ghana card during the compulsory registration of SIM cards.
The move complies with the directive from the National Communications Authority that all telcos should re-register their clients and block all users who fail to comply.
According to MTN, after blocking the 4.8 million users, its subscriber base decreased by 6.3% to 26.8 million at the end of 2023.
MTN further revealed that as of May 31, 2023, it had blocked 5.4 million SIMs that were not registered with the Ghana card
A total of six hundred thousand SIMs from the blocked cohort were, however, re-registered and removed from the blocked list, which satisfied the legal re-registration requirements set by the National Communications Authority.
In October 2021, the NCA, through the telecom operators, embarked on a nationwide re-registration of all SIM cards using the Ghana National ID card.
The exercise was completed at the end of May 2023.
The re-registration of SIM cards was not without challenges, as many users had difficulties accessing their Ghana cards. This may account for many of the abandoned SIM cards in the nearly 5 million SIMs blocked.
Scammers have, however, not decreased after the re-registration as they continue to operate. In recent times, they have tried to hack WhatsApp apps and steal Momo from unsuspecting users, just as was the case in the pre-SIM re-registration era.
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Commercial banks have been at the receiving end of some of the scam attempts as their clients are contacted by these scammers who use registered SIMs to operate.
The Ghana Education News Editorial Team is a specialized collective of education researchers, journalists, and policy analysts dedicated to providing high-fidelity reporting on the Ghanaian academic landscape. Serving as a primary bridge between governing bodies—including the Ghana Education Service (GES) and WAEC—and the public, the team leverages over a decade of combined experience to serve students, parents, and educators nationwide.
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