The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has now said it is ready to release a single short code that all networks subscribers in the country will use for services from the operators.
The Director, Technical Standards and Network Integrity of the commission, Mr. Bako Wakil, said this in Ibadan, while speaking with journalists, at a two-day stakeholder’s forum, tagged, ‘Talk To The Regulator’ (TTTR), which is the first in the year 2022.
He said the short code will be used by the subscribers of all the operators for customer service, loading of airtime and checking of account balance.
Wakil also maintained that the commission will continue to roll out policies as it deems fit, to make things easier and better for telecoms subscribers in the country. He added that the commission is also putting in place, a device management solution that will see to phone theft while urging Nigerians to check its website for list of approved and compatible phones.
According to him, the commission is not going back on its words on making things easier for telecoms subscribers in the country, and that it has given the operators a timeline of one year to prepare for the unique change in the interest of their subscribers.
He said, “We want to harmonise such that we have one short code across all networks for loading credit or top up and for checking your balance. We are working with the operators right now and we want to give them a timeline like about a year for all of them to work concurrently because we cannot just cut them off like that. It will also be publicised for people to be aware. After that, the old short codes will cease to function. This is just to make life easy for Nigerians.
“Theft of phones has also become very frequent in this country especially during occasions like wedding, funeral and all those kinds of stuff. Thus we are putting together a device management solution that will take care of all sorts. That solution will also take care of theft and substandard handsets.”
