Nigerian Communications Commission(NCC) in a statement, signed by Reuben Muoka, the Director of Public Affairs, has instructed mobile network operators(MNOs) in Nigeria to endorse the use of harmonized short codes, to align with the regulator’s consumer-centric strategy for telecommunications regulation.
He stated that the utilization of harmonised short codes was intended to ensure consistency in usual short codes used across all networks. Which means the code for checking airtime balance is going to be the same across all mobile networks for the same function, irrespective of the network.
With the new codes, telecom consumers of over 226 million active mobile lines in the country can now use the same codes to access services across the networks. It is important to note that only the codes were updated, the services provided remain the same. You can decide to choose from whichever one suits you best.
The Nigerian Communications Commission(NCC) has set a deadline of May 17, 2023, for all mobile networks to fully migrate to the use of harmonised codes. The Commission approved 13 common short codes under the new harmonised short codes regime, which include the following codes: 300 to be used as the harmonised 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, and 311 for Credit Recharge.
Furthermore, the common code for Data Plan across all networks is now 312, and 321 is for Share Services, while 323 is for Data Plan Balance. 996 is to be used for Verification of SIM and Registration/NIN-SIM Linkage
The initiative, which is in line with the Nigerian Communications Commission(NCC) regulatory modernisation programme, which essentially is designed to make life much easier for telecom consumers, as it is now easier for Nigerians to memorise single codes for various services across all the mobile networks they may be using, thereby improving consumer quality of experience.