NCC orders telcos to compensate subscribers for poor network service

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has directed mobile network operators to compensate subscribers for poor network quality. This development marks a shift from fines to direct consumer restitution.

The directive was announced on Sunday in a statement signed by the head of the NCC’s public affairs department, Nnenna Ukoha. It requires operators to provide airtime credits to affected users for breaches of Quality of Service Key Performance Indicators.

“The commission’s position is that subscribers should not be made to bear the full burden of service disruptions where operators fail to meet prescribed standards of service delivery,” the statement read.

Compensation will be calculated based on how much subscribers usually spend and whether they are located in areas affected by service failures and poor network. Mobile network operators will be required to pay this compensation when poor service quality is recorded for a certain period of time.

Why the NCC is taking this step against poor network by telcos

The directive comes after years of mounting complaints about poor network service across Nigeria’s telecommunications sector. Recent data from the NCC’s live incident portal reveals the scale of the problem.

From January to May 2025, Nigerian telecom operators recorded 89 major outages across the country. 9mobile suffered 31 major outages, MTN Nigeria reported 25, Globacom had 20, and Airtel recorded 13.

Approximately 70% of these incidents were traced to fibre cuts caused by roadworks or vandalism.

In June 2025 alone, fibre cuts disrupted telecom services in at least nine states: Rivers, Katsina, Lagos, Enugu, Benue, Anambra, Imo, Abia, and Akwa Ibom, affecting voice calls, SMS, USSD, and mobile data services.

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Some outages lasted over eight hours, leaving millions of subscribers unable to conduct basic banking transactions, communicate, or access digital services.

Lagos State has been particularly hard hit. In 2024, over 2,500 fibre cuts were recorded in the state alone. This cost operators an estimated ₦5 billion in damages and caused widespread service disruptions in commercial districts like Ikeja, Lekki, and Victoria Island.

Fibre cut repairs: Image Copyright: James Arthur

The problem intensified following the NCC’s approval of a 50% tariff hike in January 2025. The commission said one condition for approving the price increase was that operators must improve service quality.

However, subscribers have continued to report failed calls, slow data speeds, and network outages despite paying higher prices.

NCC further ties fines to network upgrades

In addition to requiring mobile network providers to compensate customers, the NCC is ordering tower companies, which possess essential infrastructure such as cell towers, to use funds from their penalties to improve their infrastructure.

“Tower companies are mandated to invest in infrastructure with measurable outcomes using sums that it has fined these companies, in addition to other financial fines the commission will deem appropriate,” the statement said.

The commission stressed its continued reinforcement of operators’ obligations to invest in network resilience, capacity expansion, and infrastructure upgrades to meet increasing demand for telecommunications.

The directive could have significant financial implications for telecom operators, particularly those with persistent service quality issues.

For subscribers, the policy means they should receive airtime credits when networks fail to meet prescribed standards in their local government areas. However, the NCC has not yet specified exactly what quality thresholds will trigger compensation, how much subscribers will receive, or how quickly operators must process payments.

The commission also has not clarified whether subscribers will need to file complaints to receive compensation or whether operators will automatically credit affected users.

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