Article Summary
- Telecommunications operators in Nigeria will migrate to harmonized shortcodes by May 17
- With the harmonized codes, all telcos will use the same code for data, credit recharges, balance checks, etc.
- This will make it easier for Nigerians to memorize single codes for various services across all mobile networks.
In March this year, the Nigerian Communications Commission directed the telecommunications operators in Nigeria to commence the implementation of the harmonized shortcodes for all telecommunications services. This means all mobile network operators will now use the same code for the same service.
The implementation of these harmonized shortcodes is to start on May 17, when all old codes used to recharge, subscribe for data, and check balance, among others, will cease to function.
Until now, each telecom operator has had its own unique code for checking balances, recharging, borrowing credit, etc. These require a telecom subscriber with more than one line to memorize the different codes for the respective operators.
However, the harmonization of shortcodes entails making the common shortcodes utilized by customers uniform across all networks. For instance, the code for recharging a line is now the same across all mobile networks.
Here are the new codes as approved by the NCC
- 300 is the code for Call Centre/Help Desk on all mobile networks
- 301 for voice Mail Deposit
- 302 for Voice Mail Retrieval
- 303 for Borrow Services
- 305 for STOP Service;
- 310 for Check Balance
- 3111 is for credit recharge.
- 312 is for Data Plan
- 321 is for Share services.
- 323 is for Data Plan Balance
- 996 is now for verification of subscriber identity module (SIM) registration or NIN-SIM linkage.
- 2442 is retained for Do-Not-Disturb (DND) unsolicited messaging complaint management.
- 3232 is also retained for porting services, otherwise called mobile number portability.
The old and new harmonized shortcodes have been running concurrently up until now and will remain so until May 17, 2023, when all networks are expected to have fully migrated to full implementation of the new codes. The NCC said the period between March and May 17 for concurrent usage of the codes was provided to enable telecom consumers to familiarize themselves with the new codes for various services.
The initiative, which is in line with the NCC’s regulatory modernization program, is essential to making life much easier for telecom consumers, as it is now easier for Nigerians to memorize single codes for various services across all mobile networks they may be using, thereby improving consumer quality of experience (QoE).
Uniformity is welcome but try as much as possible to give us enough time to flow along with you
Thanks.