The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has instructed telecom providers to promptly inform consumers of significant network outages. Under the new directive, operators must specify the cause of the disruption, the affected areas, and the expected time for service restoration.
Consumers will also be notified at least one week ahead of any planned service interruptions.
This move is part of the NCC’s push to improve service reliability and keep customers well-informed during outages. The directive also mandates that telecom providers offer compensation for major disruptions that last more than 24 hours, which could include extending the validity of prepaid services, in line with consumer protection regulations.
The Commission identifies three types of major outages:
- Disruptions caused by events like fiber cuts, theft, or vandalism, affecting 5% or more of an operator’s subscribers or at least five Local Government Areas.
- Unplanned outages affecting 100 or more sites or 5% of the operator’s total network, lasting 30 minutes or more.
- Any network issue that disrupts services in the top 10 states with the highest traffic.
To increase transparency, the NCC has launched a Major Outage Reporting Portal on its website, where the public can track network issues and see which party is responsible for the disruption.
Engr. Edoyemi Ogor, Director of Technical Standards and Network Integrity at the NCC, said the portal was tested with operators before the official rollout. He stressed that providing timely and clear information helps foster accountability. Ogor added that this effort aligns with the Executive Order signed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which designates telecom infrastructure as critical to national security and economic stability.
The NCC’s new directive aims to ensure telecom companies are more responsive to service issues and keep consumers informed.
