Airtel rolls out airtime to customers affected by poor network between Nov and Jan 2026

Airtel Nigeria has started rolling out airtime compensation to customers who experienced poor network service between November 2025 and January 2026. This is in line with the Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC) directive.

Checks by Technext show that affected customers started receiving SMS notifications of the airtime credit on Monday morning. 

“Dear customer, you have been credited with compensation airtime for service quality issues (Nov 2025 – Jan 2026). Dial *306# to check. Thank you,” the message reads.

While Airtel has yet to state the methodology it used to arrive at the airtime compensation figures, customers received airtime credit of less than N1,000. Credits vary from N167, N295 and above.

Customers can use the credit for SMS, voice, and data services, and it’s not expected to expire, per regulatory directives. However, it’s not yet clear whether all affected subscribers have received their airtime compensation. 

Recall that on March 30, the NCC directed mobile network operators (MNOs) to compensate subscribers for poor network quality, marking a shift from fines to direct subscriber redress. 

According to the commission, the 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 quality. 

In addition, MNOs such as Airtel, MTN, Globacom and T2mobile will be required to pay this compensation when poor service quality is recorded for a certain period of time.

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

Airtime compensation by telcos

Recently, MTN Nigeria rolled out airtime compensation for poor quality of service to customers. 

For MTN, some subscribers claimed they received as low as N20 or N91, while others said they got higher amounts such as N284, N341 and above N600. However, none received above N1,000.

Before the compensation rollout, MTN had earlier indicated its readiness to comply with regulatory requirements while continuing investments in network upgrades to improve service delivery nationwide.

While telecom subscribers might have, for now, won the battle against dropped calls, bounced SMS, and poor internet service, how MNOs react to the regulatory measure is a critical factor in solving the consistent complaints of poor network quality. 

Taking a look at recent months, operators reported 118 cases of network outages in December 2025. In January, 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.