Digitnomics 
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and telecommunications operators have been urged to prioritise service quality, transparent billing and effective complaint resolution over subscriber growth, as consumers continue to demand more reliable connectivity and better protection.
The Executive Director of the Consumer Advocacy and Empowerment Foundation (CADEF), Prof. Chiso Ndukwe-Okafor, made the call in Lagos on Tuesday at the 95th Telecom Consumer Parliament organised by the NCC.
Ndukwe-Okafor, who presented a lead paper at the event, said the expansion of Nigeria’s telecommunications market must translate into better experiences for subscribers, rather than being measured solely by the number of active connections.
Citing the NCC’s August 2026 industry statistics, she said Nigeria had 197.4 million active telephony subscriptions and 158.5 million internet subscriptions.
However, she cautioned that the figures did not necessarily represent individual users or establish whether subscribers enjoyed reliable services, understood their bills or received timely assistance when problems occurred.
According to her, the critical test of telecommunications service delivery is whether calls connect and remain connected, customers receive the airtime and data they pay for, and complaints result in actual remedies.
She said consumers should not have to repeatedly contact different institutions to resolve a failed transaction or struggle to understand how their data was consumed.
“A digital economy only succeeds if the service is dependable, the charges are understandable, and the remedies are ones consumers can actually use,” she said.
The CADEF executive director called on the NCC to build on its existing monitoring systems by publishing more detailed information on network performance in specific locations.
She said national averages could conceal persistent service failures in particular communities, urging the regulator and operators to provide more accessible data on dropped calls, network availability, internet speeds and the duration of service interruptions.
She also recommended that operators provide timely updates during major outages, informing affected subscribers about the areas impacted, the causes of disruptions where known and expected restoration times.
Ndukwe-Okafor said recurring network failures should trigger corrective plans with clear deadlines, responsible teams and mechanisms for verifying whether service had improved.
On billing transparency, she called for standardised, plain-language information on data bundles and other tariff offers, including prices, allowances, validity periods, automatic renewal conditions and cancellation procedures.
She also urged operators to provide subscribers with more detailed information about data consumption to enable them to understand their usage and challenge disputed charges.
While consumer education remained important, she said it should not replace operators’ responsibility to investigate billing complaints fairly and provide explanations supported by their records.
The consumer advocate further called for improved coordination among telecom operators, banks and payment service providers to address failed airtime and data transactions.
She proposed that transactions should have traceable references across the institutions involved, with clear responsibility for communicating with affected customers and transparent timelines for refunds.
According to her, consumers should not be left to determine whether a bank, payment intermediary or telecommunications operator is responsible when their accounts are debited without the services purchased being delivered.
She also called for more accessible complaint channels for older persons, people with disabilities and subscribers who do not have smartphones or reliable internet access.
Ndukwe-Okafor urged the NCC to distinguish between complaints that had merely been acknowledged, those that had received substantive responses and those that had been fully resolved.
Among her recommendations was the establishment of a public action register documenting commitments made at the Telecom Consumer Parliament, the institutions responsible for implementation and agreed timelines.
She also proposed an initial consumer-experience progress scorecard within six months, subject to the adoption of the proposed action plan.
Meanwhile, the Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Dr Aminu Maida, disclosed that the Commission had recorded more than 6,500 network interventions so far in 2026, including equipment upgrades and capacity expansion in areas experiencing increased demand.
Maida also said 75 million subscribers had received airtime compensation for poor service, while nearly three million had obtained refunds for failed airtime and data purchases during the year.
He said the Commission would continue to monitor operators’ performance and require them to address service shortfalls, adding that compensation alone could not make up for lost business opportunities or missed important communications.
The NCC boss further announced that a forthcoming usage notification guideline would provide consumers with clearer information about their daily data consumption and remaining balances.
He said the Commission was also working with the Central Bank of Nigeria, telecom operators and financial service providers to improve the tracing of failed transactions and ensure timely refunds.
On telecommunications infrastructure, Maida identified fibre-optic cable cuts during roadworks and the vandalism of equipment at telecom sites as factors that could disrupt services across communities.
He said the Commission was working with relevant authorities and operators to protect infrastructure and improve coordination around road construction activities.
Maida also highlighted the Telecommunications Identity Risk Management System, designed to help address risks associated with recycled phone numbers and numbers flagged for fraud.
He urged subscribers with unresolved complaints to escalate them to the NCC through its toll-free line, 622, after first contacting their service providers and obtaining complaint reference numbers.
The 95th Telecom Consumer Parliament was held under the theme, “Enhancing Consumer Experience: Strengthening Service Quality and Consumer Protection in Nigeria’s Digital Economy,” bringing together regulators, telecom operators, consumer groups and other stakeholders to discuss measures to improve service delivery and protect subscribers.
