TheCable

The Nigerian Communications Commission says it held a meeting with the six companies accused of call masking to confront them with some of the evidence at its disposal.

TheCable had earlier reported that the commission had given six companies a January 31 deadline to defend their participation in call masking or risk suspension of their licenses.

Call masking is a technique used to hide numbers when making calls or sending messages.

In some cases, international numbers are masked with local numbers which are not charged, because the caller’s identity is completely hidden on the network.

In a statement, Tony Ojobo, spokesman of the regulatory body said NCC would “impose the maximum possible penalties on any of its licensees implicated in the practice of masking of international telephone calls”.

“As such, it is likely that the operating licenses of some of the interconnect exchange and other licensees involved in the practice would either be revoked or suspended in the coming week,” the statement read.

“Because of the critical impacts of this nefarious practice on national security and consumer experience, the commission is determined to decisively deal with any of its licensees implicated in the scam. We do not want to expose the country to any further embarrassment.

“At the very least, serious sanctions would be imposed on them if it is found that their involvement does not justify license or revocation of their licenses.”

The companies involved include Medallion Communications Limited, Interconnect Cleaning House Nigeria Limited, Niconnx Communication Limited, Breeze Micro Limited, Solid Interconnectivity and Exchange Telecommunications Limited.