The federal government has threatened to take firm action against telecom operators in Nigeria that fail to meet the service quality threshold for Nigerian customers, stressing that it has made the necessary investments to enable the operators to thrive and provide quality service.
This was disclosed in a statement issued on Sunday by the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, who added that the operators now have a more stable, transparent, and market-driven environment in which to make a profit.
This intervention comes on the heels of persistent complaints from Nigerian customers about poor-quality network service delivery by operators, even as the minister insists that Nigerians should begin to see improvements in Quality of Service and get the value they paid for now and in the future.
The minister said the government had addressed the sustainability of the telecommunications sector and had made the necessary decisions to restore it. He added that these measures include tariff adjustments, alongside broader reforms such as designating telecom infrastructure as critical national infrastructure, efforts to harmonise taxes, and macroeconomic reforms, including the floating of the naira and the removal of fuel subsidies.
He pointed out that operators are now operating in a more stable, transparent, and market-driven environment and have returned to profitability.
He said, “This is important as it means operators now have both the capacity and the resources to fix outstanding issues within their networks and improve the quality of service delivered to Nigerians. Let me therefore be clear, the conditions required for improved service delivery have now been established.
“It is now the responsibility of telecom operators such as MTN Nigeria, Airtel Nigeria, Globacom, and T2 to take all necessary steps to resolve network challenges and deliver the level of service Nigerians expect.
“At the same time, the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, has been fully empowered, without interference, to carry out its mandate of monitoring performance, enforcing service standards, and ensuring compliance across the industry.
“We will continue to rely on the Commission’s periodic reports to track network performance, as well as feedback from Nigerians, including complaints and experiences shared across public platforms, to engage both the NCC and operators even more actively in the days, weeks, and months ahead.
“Going forward, we expect to see clear and measurable improvements in call quality, data performance, and coverage. “Where operators deliver, it will be recognised. Where they do not, the Commission is expected to take appropriate regulatory action.”
