The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has disclosed that telecommunications operators have compensated 75 million distinctive cellular subscribers for poor high quality of service, following the fee’s efforts to carry service suppliers accountable.
Executive vice chairman of the NCC, Dr Aminu Maida, disclosed this on the Abuja roundtable on Promise to Proof: The Renewed Hope Conversation, organised by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Progressive Strategy Roundtable.
The engagement targeted on finance, coaching and market entry for small companies and merchants, in addition to achievements recorded by authorities companies beneath President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
Maida mentioned the compensation was a part of the fee’s efforts to guard telecommunications shoppers and be certain that operators offered companies that met the required high quality requirements.
He defined that subscribers affected by poor community companies had obtained airtime credit from their respective operators as compensation.
“This year alone, which is the first for the NCC, we have held operators accountable and they have given compensation to 75 million unique mobile subscribers,” he mentioned.
The NCC boss added that the fee had additionally launched a framework, in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to make sure immediate refunds for failed airtime recharge transactions.
He disclosed that greater than three million shoppers had benefited from the framework.
“In addition, working with the CBN, we have put in place a framework for prompt refund of recharge of failed recharge attempts. And again, I think we’ve seen over three million people, consumers benefiting from that framework,” Maida mentioned.
On investments within the telecommunications sector, the NCC govt vice chairman disclosed that the business had witnessed a big return of investments after a interval when operators had been largely targeted on sustaining present infrastructure.
He mentioned telecommunications operators invested greater than $1 billion of their networks in 2025, whereas one of many main cellular community operators had dedicated to investing greater than $1 billion in 2026.
According to him, the operator was additionally endeavor the improve of roughly 13,000 community websites, together with the deployment of quicker applied sciences akin to 4G and 5G and the substitute of out of date gear.
Maida defined that steady funding was vital to fulfill the rising demand for telecommunications companies, significantly as information consumption had elevated by greater than 50 per cent previously yr.
He mentioned the sector, like different capital-intensive industries, required sustained funding to take care of and develop its infrastructure.
“A sector like ours, and sectors like power and other sectors that are capital intensive, you cannot afford to take a break in investing. You have to continuously be investing,” he mentioned.
He attributed the return of investments partly to the Federal Government’s macroeconomic reforms, improved overseas change stability and the elimination of gasoline subsidy, which he mentioned had helped make the enterprise surroundings extra enticing to traders.
The NCC boss, nevertheless, acknowledged that telecommunications companies had but to achieve the extent of high quality desired by the fee, citing exterior challenges akin to vandalism of telecommunications infrastructure.
He mentioned the fee would proceed to carry service suppliers accountable whereas encouraging investments that may enhance community protection and repair supply.
Maida additionally highlighted the NCC’s efforts to advertise transparency by means of the publication of telecommunications protection maps primarily based on independently crowdsourced information from precise subscribers.
He defined that the platform permits shoppers to examine community availability of their places and evaluate the efficiency of various operators earlier than deciding which service supplier to make use of.
“Now, as a consumer, you can go to our website. We publish coverage maps using data which is independently crowdsourced from real subscribers,” he mentioned.
He added that Nigerians not wanted to rely solely on suggestions from associates and acquaintances to find out which community provided higher companies of their areas.
“You can come to the NCC website. There’s a public coverage map. You enter your location anywhere in Nigeria. It will tell you which networks are available and how do they compare against each other,” he mentioned.
Maida urged telecommunications shoppers to benefit from the platform to make knowledgeable selections about community companies.
He mentioned the fee remained dedicated to enhancing client safety, selling transparency and attracting the investments required to strengthen Nigeria’s telecommunications infrastructure.
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