It remains baffling how any subscribers still cling to 9mobile in this digital age, especially considering the network has been practically non-functional for over a month. The prolonged outage has left users in frustration, cut off from essential communication channels, and unable to switch to alternative providers due to what many are now calling an unjustifiable blockade.
Rather than allowing customers to port out and seek better services, 9mobile appears to be holding them captive. Reports indicate that porting requests are consistently rejected, leaving subscribers stranded. To make matters worse, affected SIM cards reportedly display “No Service” or “Emergency Calls Only” nationwide, rendering them completely useless.
A recent visit to 9mobile’s offices in Kubwa and the Central Area painted a dire picture. With the network down, business operations had ground to a halt. Employees, with little to no tasks at hand, were spotted idling away, absorbed in mobile games instead of attending to customers.
Frustration among users has reached a boiling point. One disgruntled subscriber, who spoke to our correspondent, lamented significant business losses due to the network failure. He called on the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to intervene and impose strict sanctions on 9mobile for their failure to provide services or facilitate a smooth transition for customers wanting to leave.
A customer service representative, who chose to remain anonymous due to lack of authorization to speak to the media, confirmed that the porting issue stemmed directly from 9mobile’s ongoing technical challenges.
“The fault is entirely on 9mobile’s end. Customers looking to switch to other networks must respond to a text verification code, but the messages never go through. That means they are essentially trapped,” the employee disclosed.
As the crisis drags on, subscribers are left with dwindling options. Whether regulatory authorities will step in to resolve the situation remains to be seen, but for now, thousands of 9mobile users are left in limbo—unable to make calls, send messages, or even migrate to a more reliable network.