NCC’s airtime compensation directive means telcos can no longer play hide and seek – expert

In what seems like a victory for consumers, the Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC) latest move will not only test how the likes of MTN, Airtel, Globacom and T2mobile (formerly 9mobile) adjust to quality improvement but also the effectiveness of this measure.

Subscribers might have, for now, won the battle against dropped calls, bounced SMS, and poor internet service. But how mobile network operators (MNOs) respond to the airtime compensation measure is pivotal to solving the long-standing complaints about network failures.

Will it be a measure that shifts the gears for players to adjust their operational mechanisms? Or handle this as “business as usual” since it’s mainly airtime compensation?

Fibre Optic Technician, Ginikachi Chinekezi, believes that the NCC’s directive will usher in a new era of accountability for telecom operators playing hide and seek with consumers’ trust.

In a conversation with Technext, he suggested that while the development is the right approach for a quality-driven industry, it’s a measure that awakens players and stakeholders from their slumber. 

“I believe it has signalled a new era of accountability,” he said, stressing that “the game is OVER” for operators providing services below the quality of service threshold. 

Network downtime has become an everyday discussion as consumers continue to grumble about how this problem is affecting their productivity and business operations. While subscribers have long been at the receiving end of network failures, the airtime compensation measure introduces a direct reward. 

Chinekezi noted that the development shows NCC is awake from its long years of snoozing on this matter.

“The recent directive by NCC may be an indicator that the Commission is now fully awake to its responsibilities,” he said. 

He stressed that “the telecommunication sector is a critical backbone of modern economies, and no responsible government will sit back and watch inefficiency slowly cripple such an important sector.”

With the “call to order” in place, the commission is expected to ensure compliance with the directive by using internal mechanisms to track and monitor MNOs’ activities. 

Also Read: NCC limits airtime compensation to poor network quality from Nov 2025.

Network outages

For a given subscriber, any major outage affecting voice or data services results in a significant delay, translating to disruption in his/her planned schedule and loss of time resources. 

In practice, it can be more alarming when a subscriber experiences a drop in voice call during an emergency or is unable to make a simple money transfer at a critical point of need. The event reflects how telcos fail to provide matching quality for the cost of airtime. This means that such subscribers are getting below the expectations of what they paid for.

What makes this serious is that network outages occur nationwide, meaning every telecom subscriber, at one point or another during a month, experiences a drop in calls or a slow internet experience. 

According to NCC, a major outage is a disruption affecting at least 5% of an operator’s subscriber base or five or more local government areas. Major disruptions are caused by events such as fibre cuts, vandalism, or force majeure.

It can also be unplanned outages impacting 100 or more sites, five per cent of total sites, or one cluster for 30 minutes or longer; or any degradation of network quality in the top 10 states by traffic volume.

Data from the NCC’s uptime portal presents a clearer picture of the scenario and why the compensation is necessary.

Looking back over recent months, operators reported 118 cases of network outages in December 2025. A month after, the figure rose by 101.7% to 238 incidents of major outages across MNOs and ISPs. The cases would later reduce by 20.5% to 189 cases in February and by 20.6% to 150 cases in March. 

However, the 695 reported incidents between December and March, which cut across 11 telecom operators, signal various disruptions in subscribers’ network experience.

All blame on MNOs?

Issues leading to network outages or a drop in quality services are spread across various causing agents, which are not entirely controllable by telecom operators. 

For instance, issues like fibre cuts, power outages resulting from oil shortages or epileptic power supply, and vandalism are force majeure; issues beyond operators’ control. During Q1 ‘26, the industry suffered 361 cases of fibre cuts and 144 incidents of power outages, taking an 87.5% share of major outages’ causal agents.

In his opinion, Chinekezi noted that the NCC’s directive is aimed at addressing poor quality of service issues originating from MNOs’ negligent acts of service. 

“NCC, to the best of my knowledge, is not a draconian institution that seeks to ‘regulate to death’ MNOs. The poor Quality of Service incidents necessitated by circumstances beyond the capacity of the MNOs are treated as force majure,” he said.

Also Read: Nigeria’s telecom subscribers climb to 184.6 million, signalling market growth.

Compliance with the NCC directive 

While the airtime compensation is expected to kick start by April, according to the commission, affected subscribers are to expect the reward for the poor service they experienced. 

But what if a player becomes defiant and fails to act on the directive? 

Chinekezi shared that NCC can decide to implement a big hammer as they are empowered by the law to do so. An instance is the $5.2bn NCC slammed on MTN for failing to deactivate all non-registered SIM cards in 2015.

Although imposition of fines is encouraged, a more balanced approach to ensure compliance and the presence of quality network service would be a collaborative effort by the NCC and MNOs. 

“I believe that achieving reasonable compliance with this directive is possible if NCC can work together with MNOs to identify and eliminate those recurring factors responsible for the poor quality of service experience,” Chinekezi said.

While the airtime compensation strategy is a welcome development, a sustained collaborative effort in the industry is required to improve service delivery. This involves the commission helping telcos combat fibre cuts and power outage incidents while players tidy things at their ends.