The Telecommunications Identity Risk Management System (TIRMS) will go live next month, the Nigerian Communications Commission has revealed.
TIRMS is a digital platform proposed by the NCC for stemming financial fraud and identity theft linked to mobile phone numbers.
It works in three ways: phone number tracking, flagging risky Subscriber Identity Module (SIM), and real-time verification.
For phone tracking, TIRMS monitors mobile phone numbers, known as MSISDNs, across different telecom networks and, in flagging risky SIMs, identifies numbers that are recycled, swapped, churned (abandoned) or barred.,
In real-time verification, it gives banks and service providers instant access to telephone data.
The NCC also announced in a communiqué after its 110th board meeting on September 9 that it added that 8,526 of the 12,179 additional coverage and capacity sites aimed at improving network coverage, capacity and quality of service across the country have been deployed by telecommunications operators (telcos).
In the communiqué NCC explained that TIRMS is expected to strengthen the governance of telecommunications identities, including mobile numbers, while reducing risks associated with their misuse, reassignment and recycling.
According to the communiqué, the board stressed that the deployment of both systems must comply with applicable legal, privacy and data protection requirements while protecting consumers and safeguarding the integrity of the telecommunications market.
It also explained that deployment of 8,526 of the 12,179 additional coverage and capacity sites represents about 70 per cent of the operators’ commitments.
The NCC statement added that development is significant progress from the approximately 5,000 sites reported at the previous meeting of its governing board.
