By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria is moving towards harmonising all shortcodes to a uniform number across all telecommunications operators from May 17.
Through the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in the next two months, telcos like MTN, Airtel, 9mobile, and Globacom, among others, may begin to use one singular code for specific transactions.
Business Post understands that this means Nigerians who want to recharge their mobile phones, check their credit balance for either airtime or data, and other services will do these through a uniform number, irrespective of their network service provider.
This appears to be the second phase of telecom industry harmonisation after NCC introduced the Mobile Number Portability (MNP) feature 10 years ago in April 2013
MNP enables mobile telephone users to switch from one mobile network carrier to another and still retain their original mobile telephone numbers.
In the new harmonised shortcodes, one unique code will perform shortcode services for subscribers of all telecom operators in the country.
Revealing further plans, the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators in Nigeria (ALTON), which is the umbrella body of telecom operators, said its members were ready to implement the new policy because it reflected modern regulatory practice which obtains globally.
In a statement signed by the duo of Chairman and Head Operations of the Association, Mr Gbenga Adebayo and Mr Gbolahan Awonuga, the association said: “ALTON has announced the commencement of harmonised shortcodes across all networks pursuant to a regulatory modernisation initiative by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
“The harmonisation of shortcodes is aimed at implementing a streamlined process for common short codes across the industry by making life easier for Nigerians through the memorisation of single codes for various services across all networks as well as providing a cohesive regulatory framework that is consistent with global best practices.
“Following the directive from NCC, the Association hereby informs the general public that during migration, which is to be concluded by May 17, 2023, old and new common codes, will run concurrently, after which the old codes will cease to operate”.
The proposed harmonised shortcodes
Call Center/Help Desk – 300, Voice Mail Deposit – 301, Voice Mail Retrieval -302, Borrow Services – 303, STOP Services – 304, Check Balance – 310, Credit Recharge – 311, Data Plan – 312.
Others are Share Services – 321, Data Plan Balance – 323, Verification of SIM Registration/ NIN – SIM Linkage – 996, and Porting Services (MNP) – 2442.
