Nigeria’s telecoms regulator has introduced new rules requiring operators to notify consumers of major network outages and compensate users when service disruptions exceed 24 hours, in a move aimed at boosting transparency and accountability across the sector.
The Nigerian Communications Commission disclosed the directive in a statement issued on Sunday and signed by the acting Head of Public Affairs, Nnenna Ukoha, stating that the rules are part of efforts to improve the quality of experience for telecom subscribers and hold service providers more accountable.
Under the new regulations, mobile network operators, internet service providers, and other last-mile service providers must inform consumers of major outages via media channels.
They are required to disclose the cause of the outage, affected areas, and the estimated time for service restoration. Planned maintenance or service disruptions must be announced at least one week in advance.
The PUNCH reported last week that NCC’s Uptime portal revealed that all four major operators—MTN, Airtel, Globacom, and 9mobile—suffered outages in May, with Globacom reporting 13 incidents and 9mobile 11, primarily due to fibre cuts and power issues in states like Lagos, Rivers, Ogun, and the Federal Capital Territory.
MTN and Airtel reported five and four incidents, respectively, with disruptions linked to fibre damage in states such as Benue, Imo, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, and Abia. These outages, caused by road construction, vandalism, and equipment theft, led to degraded service quality, dropped calls, and widespread internet disruptions, affecting millions of subscribers across urban and rural areas.
The directive, effective immediately, mandates proportional compensation, such as extended service validity for outages lasting over 24 hours, in accordance with the NCC’s Consumer Code of Practice Regulations. This applies to mobile network operators, Internet service providers, and other last-mile service providers.
The NCC defines major outages as disruptions affecting at least 5 per cent of an operator’s subscriber base or five or more local government areas caused by events such as fibre cuts, vandalism, or force majeure; 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.
To enforce compliance, the NCC has launched a Major Outage Reporting Portal on its website (www.ncc.gov.ng), requiring operators to log all major incidents. The portal, accessible to the public, will also name entities responsible for disruptions, aiming to curb sabotage of critical telecom infrastructure.
In furtherance of this, the commission has further directed that all major outages are to be reported by operators through the Commission’s Major Outage Reporting Portal, which is accessible to the public through the Commission’s website, www.ncc.gov.ng. The portal additionally discloses the identity of the culprit responsible for the disruption.
Commenting on the Directive and the Major Outage Reporting Portal, the Director, Technical Standards and Network Integrity, Edoyemi Ogor, stated that, “The Commission has trialled the reporting process and portal with operators for some months now before issuing the directive.
“By providing consumers and stakeholders in the telecommunications industry with timely and transparent information on network outages, we are entrenching a culture of accountability and transparency. This approach also ensures that culprits are held responsible for sabotage to telecommunications infrastructure.
“This also aligns with our broader commitment to the effective implementation of the Executive Order signed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which designates telecommunications infrastructure as Critical National Information Infrastructure. It reinforces the need to safeguard these assets, given their centrality to national security, economic stability, and the everyday lives of Nigerians,” Ogor said.
