In Africa’s largest economy, sometimes making a simple phone call successfully could become a herculean exercise requiring patience and enduring frustration. Nigeria’s telecommunications sector, despite its potential and importance to the nation’s economy and amidst its increasing subscription rate, continues to deteriorate under what appears to be poor and ineffective regulatory oversight, leaving millions of subscribers at the mercy of underperforming service providers.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), established to protect consumer interests and ensure quality service delivery, appears to have abdicated its regulatory responsibilities. While collecting billions in licensing fees and fines, the commission has failed to address the fundamental issues plaguing the sector, transforming from being a watchdog into a mere spectator of the industry’s decline without much of a whimper despite the glaring shenanigans displayed by these telco firms.
For the average Nigerian, the gory and ugly experiences of using mobile services have become a daily ordeal. Network congestion, particularly during peak hours, renders smooth communication whether it be voice or voice over internet protocol communication nearly impossible in major cities. More subscribers often find themselves redialing multiple times to complete a single call, while those fortunate enough to connect must contend with poor audio quality and abrupt disconnections.
In commercial hubs such as Lagos, Onitsha, Kano and others, subscribers have reportedly complained about such occurrences due to dropped calls and unreliable networks. This has led to subscribers purchasing multiple SIMs of different networks, still such measures yet fail to guarantee the subscriber the desire for reliable communication. This, I have witnessed firsthand.
The situation with internet services is equally dire. On a number of occasions, the internet services provided could be described as the ‘Speed of Yesterday’. While telecommunications companies proudly advertise 4G LTE services, the reality for most users is far from the promised high-speed connectivity. Data speeds frequently crawl at 2G levels or 3G levels, making simple tasks like sending emails or accessing social media platforms a grueling exercise.
Obviously, one cannot totally quantify the huge impact such situations have on Nigeria’s growing digital economy. To describe such as bad is an understatement. Start-ups, online businesses, and remote workers face significant challenges due to the unreliability of such internet connections, with such regression threatening not only Nigeria’s position as Africa’s leading tech hub but also largely undermining our potential to scale up to the opportunities offered by the digital economy creating the jobs and attracting the investments necessary to leapfrog our economy from where it is now to where we really want it to be.
The NCC’s approach to these issues has been remarkably passive, its posture similar to regulatory negligence. Despite having the statutory power to impose sanctions and enforce quality standards, the commission’s actions have been limited to issuing occasional warnings and conducting ineffective monitoring exercises.
The regulatory body’s quality of service (QoS) parameters, which should serve as benchmarks for acceptable service levels, have become merely passive suggestions rather than enforced standards. Telecommunications service providers routinely breach these parameters without facing meaningful consequences, effectively turning the entire regulatory framework into a paper tiger.
As noted earlier, the economic impact of poor telecommunications services extends far beyond individual inconvenience. The Nigerian economy repeatedly loses billions of naira annually due to failed transactions, missed business opportunities, and reduced productivity. Small and medium-sized enterprises, which form the backbone of the economy, are particularly vulnerable to these telecommunications failures.
Moreover, the poor quality of service has implications for national security. Emergency services delivery is obviously likely to be affected when networks like ours fail, and the inability to maintain stable communications affects both personal safety and law enforcement efforts.
While the NCC maintains a Consumer Affairs Bureau, its effectiveness in addressing subscriber complaints remains questionable. The bureau’s complaint resolution mechanism is cumbersome, and many consumers report that their grievances remain unresolved for months and even years.
The commission’s consumer protection guidelines, while comprehensive on paper, lack practical enforcement. Telecommunications companies have continued to engage in practices that place their subscribers at a disadvantage, from unsolicited services to arbitrary charges, with minimal intervention from the regulator.
The transformation of Nigeria’s telecommunications sector requires immediate and decisive action. The NCC must transition from its current passive stance to active regulation, implementing and enforcing stricter quality of service standards. This should include:
• Regular, transparent monitoring of network performance with published results
• Substantial penalties for breaches of service standards
• Mandatory infrastructure investment requirements for service providers
• Implementation of consumer compensation schemes for service failures
• Regular independent audits of network infrastructure and service quality.
The time has come for a complete overhaul of Nigeria’s telecommunications regulatory framework. The NCC must either step up to its responsibilities or make way for a more effective regulatory body. The Nigerian people deserve better than to be held hostage by poor telecommunications services while regulators watch from the sidelines.
In a world where digital connectivity increasingly determines economic success, Nigeria cannot afford to continue with its current trajectory of telecommunications decline. The cost of regulatory failure is too high, and the patience of Nigerian consumers has worn beyond too thin. The message to the NCC and service providers must be clear: Improve!
