NCC Orders MTN, Airtel to Compensate Customers for Prolonged Network Outages

In a bold regulatory move, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has mandated all mobile network operators, including industry giants like MTN and Airtel, to compensate customers affected by network disruptions that last more than 24 hours. This directive, issued on Sunday, May 25, 2025, is aimed at reinforcing consumer rights and enhancing service accountability in Nigeria’s telecommunications sector. The NCC observed that despite recurrent outages, subscribers have not received fair compensation or extensions of service validity as stipulated under the Consumer Code of Practice Regulations. To address this, the regulator now requires operators to not only compensate affected users but also provide clear public communication regarding any major disruptions detailing the cause, geographic spread, and estimated time of resolution. According to the directive, planned maintenance that may affect network availability must be communicated at least one week in advance via appropriate media platforms. The NCC believes this approach will improve transparency and build trust between service providers and the millions of subscribers who depend on mobile and internet services for daily living.

Outage Definitions and the New Reporting Portal

To institutionalize transparency, the NCC has officially defined what constitutes a “major service outage.” This includes any incident affecting 5% or more of an operator’s subscriber base due to events such as fibre cuts, theft, vandalism, or natural disasters. Other scenarios include the isolation of 100 or more network sites or service degradation in Nigeria’s top 10 traffic-heavy states. The commission also introduced a new public reporting portal that will allow both telecom operators and consumers to monitor and report service disruptions. The platform, tested earlier with major operators, is designed to display real-time outage data, provide timelines for restoration, and even reveal the identities of saboteurs in cases of deliberate infrastructure damage.

Mr. Ehoyemi Ogor, Director of Technical Standards and Network Integrity at NCC, stated that the aim is to entrench a culture of accountability. He noted, “This portal empowers consumers with timely information while holding operators and external disruptors accountable for any failures in service delivery”

MTN Apologises as Service Woes Persist

The regulatory action comes in the wake of recent widespread outages experienced by MTN Nigeria, the country’s largest telecom operator with 84.6 million subscribers accounting for over 51% of the national market share. On February 28, 2025, many MTN users were unable to make calls or access internet services, prompting a wave of public complaints across social media and customer care channels. In response, MTN issued a formal apology, acknowledging the disruption and confirming that full service had been restored. The company explained that the disruption was due to an unexpected technical fault that affected critical infrastructure. This episode has accelerated regulatory enforcement by the NCC, which aims to ensure that similar issues are swiftly resolved in future and that customers are duly compensated. With a more transparent compensation framework now in place, Nigerian consumers may begin to enjoy stronger protection and improved service reliability in the telecoms space.