The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has introduced a new policy mandating telecom operators to compensate subscribers for major service disruptions exceeding 24 hours and publicly report all significant network outages
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has rolled out a groundbreaking new policy that compels telecommunications operators to compensate subscribers for major service disruptions lasting more than 24 hours.
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This significant move aims to enhance service quality, transparency, and consumer rights within Nigeria’s burgeoning telecom industry.
The new directive, titled “Directive on Reportage of Major Network Outages by Mobile Network Operators (MNOs),” applies broadly to all telecom service providers, including mobile network operators, internet service providers (ISPs), and last-mile service companies.
Under the new policy, consumers affected by prolonged major outages will receive proportional compensation, such as service extensions, in line with the existing Consumer Code of Practice Regulations.
Furthermore, operators are now required to publicly notify consumers about significant service failures, detailing the cause, affected areas, and estimated time for service restoration.
This directive represents a bold step toward improving accountability and reliability in Nigeria’s telecom industry.
For any planned outages, operators must issue public notices at least one week in advance through appropriate media channels.
The NCC has defined “major outages” across three categories:
- Service disruptions impacting at least 5% of an operator’s subscribers or affecting five or more Local Government Areas due to incidents like fibre cuts, vandalism, or natural disasters.
- Unexpected isolation of 100 or more network sites, or 5% of a provider’s total network sites, or a full outage in a network cluster lasting at least 30 minutes.
- Significant service degradation in the top 10 states by network traffic volume, as determined by the NCC.
To bolster transparency and accountability, the NCC has also launched a Major Outage Reporting Portal, now accessible to the public via its official website (www.ncc.gov.ng).
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Telecom operators are mandated to report all major network outages on this platform. Crucially, the portal will also name the parties responsible for each disruption, a measure designed to deter sabotage and negligence.
