The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says about 75 million telecom subscribers have received airtime or data compensation for poor network services between November 2025 and September 2026.
The Commission disclosed this on Tuesday at the 95th edition of the Telecom Consumers Parliament in Lagos, saying it had compelled telecom operators to compensate customers affected by service failures under its Consumer Compensation Framework.
Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Dr Aminu Maida, said the regulator was committed to protecting consumers by enforcing service standards, holding operators accountable and ensuring subscribers had access to redress when service obligations were not met.
He noted that network failures often have real-life consequences, ranging from traders losing sales because they cannot confirm payments to students missing deadlines due to poor internet connectivity.
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"When subscribers buy airtime or data, see the money leave their account and receive nothing, they should not have to spend days chasing a refund," Maida said.
He acknowledged that dropped calls, slow internet speeds and service outages continued to frustrate consumers, particularly at a time when households and small businesses were under financial pressure.
According to him, telecom operators are expanding network capacity by installing new sites, upgrading existing equipment and deploying newer technologies to improve service quality.
He revealed that the NCC had recorded more than 6,500 network interventions across the country in 2026, including capacity upgrades in high-demand locations.
The Commission, he said, monitors operators' performance and requires them to address service deficiencies, while major outages must be explained to consumers with timelines for restoration.
Maida also encouraged subscribers to use the NCC's public coverage maps, which rely on crowdsourced performance data, to compare network quality in different locations before choosing a provider.
He, however, warned that vandalism and accidental damage to telecom infrastructure remained major challenges.
Fibre-optic cables are frequently cut during road construction, while thieves steal equipment, batteries and fuel from telecom sites, disrupting services across multiple communities.
The NCC said it was working with security agencies, road authorities and operators to protect critical telecom infrastructure, while urging communities to report suspected vandalism rather than confront offenders.
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Although compensation remained an important consumer protection measure, Maida stressed that the Commission's priority was reducing service failures altogether.
He added that the NCC's tariff simplification measures were also aimed at making operators' data and airtime offers easier for consumers to understand.
