The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has issued a fresh directive mandating telecom operators to compensate subscribers when major service outages last longer than 24 hours.
The directive titled "Directive on Reportage of Major Network Outages by Mobile Network Operators (MNOs)," made available to LEADERSHIP on Sunday, stated that affected consumers are to receive proportional compensation, including extensions of service validity, in accordance with the Consumer Code of Practice Regulations.
The new regulation applies to Mobile Network Operators, Internet Service Providers, and other operators delivering last-mile services across the country.
The move, the NCC said, was part of efforts to improve service quality, enforce transparency, and protect consumer rights in Nigeria's telecom sector.
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In addition to compensation, the Commission now requires telecom licensees to publicly inform consumers of major service disruptions. The information must include the cause of the outage, affected areas, and the estimated time of service restoration.
Planned outages must be communicated at least one week in advance through appropriate media channels.
Three categories of "major outages" are defined in the directive. These include: Any disruption affecting five percent or more of an operator's subscribers or five or more Local Government Areas (LGAs) due to fibre cuts, theft, vandalism, or force majeure; The unplanned isolation of 100 or more sites, or five percent of the operator's total network sites and Service degradation in the top 10 states by traffic volume, as determined periodically by the NCC.
To institutionalise transparency and public oversight, the Commission also launched a Major Outage Reporting Portal. This platform not only details current network outages but also discloses the identities of those responsible for disruptions, especially in cases of sabotage.
Commenting on the Directive and the Major Outage Reporting Portal, the director, Technical Standards and Network Integrity, NCC, Engr. 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.
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"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 (CNII). It reinforces the need to safeguard these assets, given their centrality to national security, economic stability, and the everyday lives of Nigerians," Ogor stated.
