To ensure fairness, equity and justice, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has disclosed that Telecommunication operators in the country have compensated over 75 million subscribers for poor network services.
The exercise is part of a broader effort to enforce quality-of-service obligations on operators in the face of persistent complaints from consumers over dropped calls, slow data speeds, and inconsistent network coverage.
This was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of the 109th NCC board meeting.
The Communique noted that the settlement followed significant progress in enforcing quality-of-service obligations across the mobile networks.
The NCC had on March 29, 2026, directed mobile operators to compensate subscribers for poor network performance.
It had ordered telecommunications operators to automatically issue airtime credits to affected customers where required.
This is calculated on the basis of their average spending in locations where service quality failed to meet regulatory benchmarks.
It reads “The board noted substantial progress in the implementation of the commission’s directive, particularly the full compliance, which has resulted in compensation being offered to over 75 million affected subscribers,”
Apart from operators' claims of compliance, the communique said that NCC was still conducting independent validation to ascertain it all eligible subscribers had been properly captured in the compensation process.
“The board further acknowledged ongoing efforts to independently validate operators’ claims and ensure all eligible subscribers receive compensation due to them, while encouraging consumers to continue their engagement with the commission,” it said.
The Communique also disclosed that the board also reviewed compliance by infrastructure providers, particularly tower companies (TowerCos).
It directed the companies to reinvest regulatory fines into network upgrades through escrow arrangements designed to improve service resilience.
Stressing that compliance had been partial, the board warned that full adherence was necessary to achieve the intended infrastructure upgrades.
“While noting the progress made to date, the board emphasised the importance of full compliance to ensure that the intended infrastructure improvements are realised sustainably,” it said
Moves to expand fibre-to-the-home connections, according to the Communique, are beginning to gain traction, even though penetration remains low relatively to national demand.
The board said broader fibre rollout and wholesale backbone expansion would be critical to easing pressure on mobile networks and reducing the cost of data services over time.
Besides infrastructure gaps, the board noted persistent vandalism of telecom facilities as a major constraint on service reliability.
The board noted the prevailing sectoral challenges affecting the operations of licensees of the commission, including infrastructure vandalism, which has continued to hamper industry growth,
Towards boosting the security of telecommunications infrastructure in the country, the board said it is exploring additional protective mechanisms, including a proposed Communications Industry Security Trust Fund,
The Communique also added that the compensation programme, combined with ongoing regulatory enforcement, signals a more assertive stance by the NCC towards improving service quality in a market where consumer frustration over network performance has remained high not corresponding to the years of investment by telecommunications operators.