Amid service hitches subscribers spend N44.7 billion on local SMS

•Telcos get approval to block nine banks over USSD debts

Amid several undelivered text messages, also known as SMS, in 2023, telecommunications subscribers in Nigeria spent N44.7 billion to exchange messages digitally across the networks.

Undelivered text messages, amid charges by mobile network operators (MNOs), remained one of the banes of telephony services in the country and have continued to pitch subscribers against the operators.

Indeed, analysis of the just-released ‘2023 Subscriber/Network Performance Report,’ showed that 22, 973,122, 650.64 text messages were exchanged across networks in the year. While 11,176,161,289.64 SMS were sent, 11,796,961,361.00 were received across the networks

Specifically, MTN, which is the largest operator by subscription and market share, recorded 16.9 billion SMS (8.2b were sent and 8.5b received on the network); Globacom had 1.35 billion (656.2 million sent and 694 million received); Airtel had 4.4 billion text messages (two billion sent and 2.3 billion received); 458.1 million SMS went through 9mobile network, where 299 million were sent and 158.2 million came in. Smile Communications recorded 1, 226, 287.00, where 263,458 were sent and 962, 829 entered the line.

Further analysis of the data showed that the 22.9 billion SMS showed a loss of 11.38 per cent from that of the total SMS sent and received in the year 2022, which stood at 25,924,511,108 SMS.

At the current rate of N4 per SMS sent, it means that for about 11.2 billion SMS sent in 2023, Nigerians paid N44.7 billion. Telcos only charge for SMS sent.
NCC disclosed that there was a 20.66 per cent increase in the number of SMS sent out in the year 2023 compared to the year 2022. Conversely, the year 2023 count of incoming SMS also increased by 0.35 per cent higher than that of Year 2022.

In terms of International SMS sent as of December 2023, it was 75,414,619 while the total number of SMS received was 264,265,952, making a total of 339,680,571. MTN recorded the highest of 34.5 million; Globacom, 6.88 million; Airtel, 275.1 million; 9mobile, 23 million and SMILE, 54,008.

Meanwhile, telcos have been authorised to disconnect the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) codes assigned to nine financial institutions due to unpaid debts.

This directive was given by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in a public notice, yesterday, signed by the Commission’s Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka.

NCC said affected banks must settle their outstanding obligations by January 27, 2025, or risk losing access to their USSD codes.These codes, essential for enabling mobile banking services, could be reassigned to other applicants if the debts remain unresolved.

Originally designed by telecom operators for services like airtime purchases and subscriptions, USSD has become a key tool in the banking sector, offering financial services to users without requiring an Internet connection.

The commission revealed that, as of Tuesday’s (January 14, 2025) close of business, nine out of 18 financial institutions had not complied with regulatory directives.

While other banks have cleared their debts, the total amount initially owed by the financial institutions was reported to exceed N200 billion.

However, the regulator did not disclose the precise debt currently owed by the affected banks. According to the NCC, some of the unpaid invoices have remained unpaid since 2020, indicating a prolonged financial dispute between the banks and telecom operators.

Part of the notice read, “By the information made available to the commission as at close of business on Tuesday, January 14, 2025, of a total of 18 financial institutions, the nine institutions listed below have failed to comply significantly with the directives in the Second Joint Circular of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the commission dated December 20, 2024, for the settlement of outstanding invoices due to MNOS, some since 2020.”

The regulator noted that banks’ failure to comply with the CBN-NCC joint circular also means that they are unable to meet the good standing requirements for the renewal of the USSD codes assigned to them by the commission.

It added, “In fulfilment of its consumer protection mandate, the commission wishes to inform consumers that they may be unable to access the USSD platform of the affected financial institutions from January 27, 2025.”

The affected financial institutions include Fidelity Bank Plc, First City Monument Bank, Jaiz Bank Plc, Polaris Bank Limited, Sterling Bank Limited, United Bank for Africa Plc, Unity Bank Plc, Wema Bank Plc, and Zenith Bank Plc.

The affected USSD codes include 770, 919, 822, 329, 773, 833, 7799, 945 and 966. The NCC emphasised that the financial institutions had been duly notified of the need for immediate compliance and warned that consumers may face service disruptions if the issues remain unresolved.