SIM Revalidation:PH Subscribers Bemoan Long Hours On Queue

Subscribers in Port Harcourt have cried out over long hours waiting at mobile network providers officers for registration of their SIM cards.
A subscriber, Lilian Charles, said she waited hours at the MTN Office at Rumuodomaya in Obio/Akpor Local Government and was unable to register her line due to heavy crowd.
She said the place was crowded with subscribers on Wednesday who wanted to revalidate their SIM cards as directed by the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC).
Charles, noted that poor network at the company’s office was part of the reasons for the low process and heavy crowd.
According to her, subscribers now leave their homes as early as 5am in order to be registered same day.
Another subscriber, Chukwudi Justice said the mobile network provider should make available more mobile registration points to enable more subscribers participate in the exercise.
He said if urgent steps were not taken, the process could lead to a stampede.
Justice noted that the process was becoming unbearable, wondering if the number of de-registered subscribers was not increasing by the day.
An MTN subscriber, who hinted that he finally registered at the Rumuodomaya centre, Onyekaozu-Precious Jackson, said she was given N500 worth of recharge card by the company.
Jackson who corroborated the large crowd report, said it took her several hours before she succeeded.
The Tide learnt that the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) has sanctioned MTN and other network companies over failure to de-register subscribers who are yet to comply with the directives.
As at the time of filing this report, our correspondent gathered that some agents have opened a mobile registration centre somewhere on Emenike Street in Diobu where subscribers pay N200 as registration fee.