Bosun Tijani, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy has directed the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to impose automatic penalties on telecom operators for network failures within 90 days, signaling a move from voluntary compliance to stricter regulatory accountability in a sector long plagued by service disruptions.
Public frustration with telecom services has reached a peak. In 2025, MTN alone recorded 1.62 million customer complaints, citing dropped calls, slow data, and repeated outages. These issues have persisted despite repeated regulatory assurances. “The expectation is clear: Nigerians must experience tangible improvements in the quality, reliability, and value of telecommunications services,” Tijani said in a letter to the NCC dated January 8, 2026. “Infrastructure investment enables capacity; regulatory enforcement and accountability must deliver quality.”
The minister’s directive makes clear that incremental reforms are no longer sufficient. Persistent dissatisfaction with call quality, data performance, network availability, and complaint resolution timelines requires visible and consistently enforced regulatory action. At the heart of the directive is a 90-day framework designed to shift telecom regulation from discretionary oversight to enforcement-led supervision. The first phase focuses on transparency and public accountability, requiring the NCC to publish operator-specific Quality of Service scorecards that benchmark performance, including call completion rates, dropped calls, and actual data speeds against advertised claims.
This builds on the NCC’s previous initiatives, including the Uptime Report portal launched in 2025, which tracks network outages, their causes, affected locations, and restoration timelines. Despite these efforts, service disruptions, particularly fibre cuts, continue to rise, highlighting the gap between policy intent and real-world outcomes. To complement technical data, the directive mandates the creation of a Consumer Experience Index to track subscriber perceptions of network quality, ensuring public feedback is considered alongside infrastructure performance.
The more stringent measures take effect after 60 days, introducing automatic, progressive sanctions for repeated service breaches and enforcing time-bound Service Level Agreements for resolving consumer complaints. Operators’ compliance will be made public, adding another layer of accountability. Chronic offenders will face escalation measures after 90 days, including mandatory remediation plans with clear timelines and investment commitments, and potential restrictions on expansion approvals or access to regulatory incentives if problems persist.
Minister Tijani emphasized that improved consumer outcomes must match enhanced commercial viability. The NCC will also conduct audits and spot checks, especially in areas with consistently poor performance, to ensure reported improvements are credible and prevent cosmetic compliance. These steps coincide with ongoing efforts to protect telecom infrastructure, designated as Critical National Information Infrastructure in 2024, including nationwide mapping of fibre routes, towers, and data centres, engagement with state governments, and public awareness campaigns to reduce vandalism.
With this directive, the NCC is moving toward predictable, rule-based enforcement, signaling a new era in which telecom operators will be held accountable for the quality and reliability of the services Nigerians rely on daily.
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