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The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has reaffirmed its commitment to holding telecommunications operators accountable for poor call quality, network disruptions and other service failures as it intensifies efforts to improve consumer experience across the country.
The commission’s Executive Vice Chairman, Dr Aminu Maida, gave the assurance at the 95th Telecom Consumer Parliament in Lagos, themed “Enhancing Consumer Experience: Strengthening Service Quality and Consumer Protection in Nigeria’s Digital Economy.”
Maida said effective telecommunications regulation must deliver measurable improvements in the everyday experiences of subscribers, including reliable connectivity, transparent billing and accessible channels for resolving complaints.
NCC strengthens enforcement of telecom service standards
Maida said the NCC remained focused on enforcing service quality standards, protecting consumer rights and ensuring that operators deliver the level of service promised to subscribers.
He noted that the commission had a responsibility to establish clear regulatory requirements, hold service providers accountable and ensure that consumers had fair opportunities to seek redress when services failed to meet expectations.
“We must judge our work by the difference it makes to your experience,” he said.
The NCC chief illustrated the economic and social consequences of poor telecommunications services, pointing to the difficulties faced by traders waiting to confirm customer payments and students attempting to submit assignments over slow or unreliable connections.
“For a trader waiting to confirm a customer’s payment, a network failure can mean a lost sale, while a student trying to submit an assignment can miss a deadline because of a slow connection,” Maida said.
He added that consumers expected their phones to work reliably, their charges to be understandable and service providers to take responsibility when problems occurred.
According to Maida, the event’s theme reflected the commission’s responsibility to connect regulatory enforcement with improved service delivery and stronger consumer protection.
Operators record more than 6,500 network improvement interventions
Providing an update on efforts to improve telecommunications performance, Maida disclosed that operators had undertaken more than 6,500 network improvement interventions in 2026.
The interventions included network capacity expansions, equipment upgrades and deployments of newer technologies intended to improve the reliability of voice and data services.
The figure highlights the scale of ongoing work to address network performance challenges. However, the NCC’s emphasis on accountability indicates that infrastructure investment must translate into better experiences for subscribers, particularly in areas affected by persistent call drops, poor connectivity and slow data services.
Maida urged consumers to use the commission’s public coverage maps and performance-monitoring tools, available on the NCC website, when comparing telecommunications providers in their locations.
He said the coverage maps offered an independent comparison of network performance using crowdsourced data drawn from users’ everyday experiences.
The tools enable subscribers to assess coverage and performance in areas where they live, work or operate businesses, helping them make more informed decisions about which network may best meet their needs.
Infrastructure vandalism continues to disrupt services
Despite ongoing network improvement efforts, Maida expressed concern about the continued vandalism of telecommunications infrastructure.
He identified fibre-optic cable cuts, equipment theft and damage to network facilities as persistent challenges that disrupt services and negatively affect consumers and businesses.
Telecommunications infrastructure is essential to maintaining network availability, supporting digital transactions and enabling access to online services. Damage to these facilities can interrupt connectivity and undermine the benefits of investments made by operators to improve service quality.
Maida stressed that protecting telecommunications infrastructure remained critical to sustaining reliable services nationwide.
The issue adds another dimension to the NCC’s service quality agenda, as operators must contend with both network performance challenges and disruptions caused by damage to critical infrastructure.
About 75 million subscribers receive airtime compensation
The NCC also highlighted progress under its Consumer Compensation Framework, with Maida revealing that approximately 75 million subscribers had benefited from airtime compensation in 2026.
He said the commission would continue to enforce compliance with regulatory requirements and sanction breaches where necessary to protect consumer interests.
The compensation framework is intended to provide redress to subscribers affected by qualifying service failures, reinforcing the principle that consumers should not bear the full cost of services that fall short of applicable standards.
“We will continue to hold operators accountable for the quality of service they provide,” Maida assured participants.
The reported compensation figure underscores the scale of the NCC’s consumer protection efforts. However, the commission’s wider objective remains improving the quality and reliability of services so that subscribers experience fewer disruptions in the first place.
NCC calls for clearer billing and faster complaint resolution
Earlier in her welcome remarks, the NCC’s Executive Commissioner for Stakeholder Management, Rimini Makama, said the 95th Telecom Consumer Parliament was designed to strengthen discussions around service reliability, billing transparency and effective complaint resolution.
She called for greater collaboration among regulators, telecommunications operators, consumer groups and other stakeholders to build an ecosystem that consistently delivers value and confidence to subscribers.
Makama outlined three key expectations for consumers: dependable service, clear billing and accessible complaint resolution.
“When you pay for a service, you should be able to depend on it,” she said, emphasising the need for subscribers to understand their data usage, charges and any value-added services linked to their telephone lines without confusion or unexpected deductions.
She also stressed that consumers who raise complaints should be listened to, treated fairly and assisted within a reasonable timeframe.
Makama noted that complaint channels must also accommodate people who face additional barriers when accessing telecommunications services, reinforcing the importance of inclusive consumer protection.
Consumer experience remains central to telecom regulation
The NCC’s renewed focus on service quality, billing transparency and accountability reflects the growing importance of telecommunications to Nigeria’s digital economy.
Reliable connectivity supports businesses, education, financial transactions and communication, making poor network performance more than a technical inconvenience. It can also disrupt commercial activity and restrict access to essential digital services.
While operators have undertaken thousands of network improvement interventions and millions of subscribers have received airtime compensation, the effectiveness of these measures will ultimately depend on sustained improvements in service delivery.
The commission’s challenge is to ensure that regulatory enforcement, infrastructure investment and consumer redress work together to deliver more reliable networks, clearer billing and meaningful resolutions when services fail.
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