NCC Directs Compensation for Poor Mobile Network Quality

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has directed mobile network operators in Nigeria to compensate subscribers directly for instances of poor network quality, marking a shift toward enhanced consumer protection in the telecommunications sector. The directive, announced on Sunday, March 29, 2026, and effective immediately, requires operators to issue airtime credits to affected users in specific locations where service performance falls below established standards.

Under the new framework, compensation targets breaches of key Quality of Service (QoS) indicators, including dropped call rates, call setup success rates, and data throughput speeds. The NCC stated that subscribers should not bear the full burden of service disruptions caused by operators' failures to meet these benchmarks. Airtime credits will be calculated based on a formula incorporating a subscriber's average usage patterns, such as historical spending and data consumption, as well as the geographic location—specifically Local Government Areas (LGAs)—and the duration of the service failure. This approach addresses localized outages, which often go unnoticed in national averages but significantly impact...