Expensive Nigerians, the subsequent time your web glitches halfway via your Netflix binge or a Zoom name, the NCC needs you to know who’s accountable.
In a sweeping change, the Nigerian Communications Fee (NCC), the regulator for telecom companies and web service suppliers (ISPs), has stated it should introduce a portal for tower firms to report downtimes on their community amenities. It has additionally given them an August deadline to enhance their infrastructure or face fines.
Why does this matter? In line with the NCC, Nigeria experiences a median of two community outages day by day, with a complete of 349 main outages recorded throughout the nation between January and June 2025.
The NCC needs each firm concerned within the community connectivity worth chain to be held accountable. When your web connection frustrates you subsequent time, it’s not sufficient accountable MTN, Airtel, Glo, or 9mobile. There are extra gamers behind the scenes that make web connectivity occur. Tower Firms (TowerCos) are one in all them; they handle and preserve the cell towers you see in your streets, lease them to telecom firms, and cost for it. When their infrastructure fails, it impacts you too.
Zoom out: For the reason that telecom tariff hike took impact in February, Nigerians have been paying extra for web, voice, and SMS companies. Now the NCC is saying: if shoppers should pay extra, then service suppliers—particularly TowerCos—should ship extra. And quick.Â
In September 2024, the telecom regulator reviewed its High quality of Service (QoS) benchmarks for cellular operators to enhance web high quality and name drop charge. As a part of that assessment, cellular operators now face a superb of ₦5 million ($3,300) in the event that they fail to enhance their service, and a further ₦500,000 ($330) day by day for the interval the infraction lasts.
TowerCos too, like cellular operators, will get the identical accountability therapy. No extra excuses about diesel prices or unpaid payments from cellular operators. The Fee has made it clear: downtime has a deadline. And it expires in August.
