MTN Nigeria has commenced the operation of special mega centres across the country for revalidating and updating customers’ Subscribers Identification Module (SIM) cards registration details.
For effect, the company has recruited 8,000 Nigerians to handle the exercise.
The telecommunications firm, in a statement, yesterday, said it is guided by the national interest objectives of the exercise, adding that it will continue to make concerted efforts to ensure that customers’ details meet specific requirements while providing additional facilities for their comfort.
For ease of access, some of the mega centres are located in Lagos – Oshodi, Festac, Ikoyi, Victoria Island, Lekki, Ikeja and Ipaja, Alimosho. Others are located in Abeokuta, Ibadan, Ilorin, Enugu, Aba, Owerri, Port Harcourt, Warri, Calabar, Kano, Katsina, Jos, Bauchi, Abuja and Kaduna. The mega centres are designed to reduce the queues and facilitate a seamless registration process.
Speaking on this development, the General Manager, Consumer Marketing, MTN Nigeria, Richard Iweanoge, stated that the rollout of the mega registration centres nationwide is part of the extensive measures and steps taken by MTN to streamline the registration exercise in order to ensure a smooth registration process for our valued customers.
Iweanoge said: “We have extended opening and closing hours of most of our outlets from 7am-10pm every day of the week as well as on Saturdays and Sundays, dedicating 95 per cent of resources at our outlets to facilitate the SIM registration process for customers. MTN employees in other business areas have also been deployed to assist with SIM revalidation in our bid to reduce the long queues and large numbers of customers at our service points nationwide.”
“With the extensive steps taken, we assure our subscribers that we are working round the clock to ensure that their SIM registration details are captured without undue delay” he said.
Iweanoge also noted, “In the process of supporting this laudable national interest initiative, MTN continues to recruit young Nigerians for this purpose and to date has been able to build capacity and has provided over 8,000 jobs on a contract basis to support the SIM registration effort.”
Currently, MTN controls 43 per cent market share in Nigeria and services about 62 million subscribers in the country.
Meanwhile, to ensure aggrieved customers did not jettison the network as a result of the of the challenges faced by affected subscribers, the telecommunications firm including Airtel have started luring customers with free airtime. The operators are giving out free airtime ranging between N5, 000 and N10, 000.
MTN claimed that the process has been streamlined to make the exercise quicker and easier for subscribers, urging subscribers to visit the nearest MTN SIM Registration point to update their details, including fingerprints and picture. It stressed that a valid means of identification will also make the process easier.