Telecom
9mobile Board Visits NCC as Danbatta Affirms Top in Quality of Service
The new Board of Directors of 9mobile has demonstrated commitment to promoting cordial stakeholder relations by paying a courtesy visit to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in Abuja, where they also affirmed commitment to sustained delivery of excellent services to customers.
The assurance by the board of 9mobile to sustain excellent service delivery also received regulatory acknowledgement when the NCC Executive Vice Chairman/CEO, Prof. Umar Danbatta, commended the telco for not only continuously meeting the key performance indicators on quality of service but surpassing the industry mark even during the trying time it went through.
Led by the Chairman of the Board, Alhaji Nasiru Ado Bayero, 9mobile board members on the visit to the NCC headquarters included three Non-Executive Directors – Asega Aliga, Mohammed Edewor and Winston Ndubueze Udeh.
Others were the Acting Managing Director, Stephane Beuvelet and Executive Director, Regulatory & Corporate Affairs, Abdulrahman Ado. Executive Management Team members including Chief Financial Officer, Phillips Oki and Company Secretary, Ore Olajide were also on the visit.
Bayero, while speaking during an interaction with the executive management team of the NCC led by the Executive Vice Chairman/CEO, Prof. Umar Danbatta, commended NCC for its immense support alongside the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in ensuring smooth and successful completion of the 9mobile acquisition process.
“We have come to extend our courtesies to the NCC under the able leadership of Prof. Umar Danbatta who has been doing an excellent job steering the commission’s affairs. We are particularly delighted at the professional and thorough supervisory roles the NCC and other regulatory stakeholders played in the acquisition process of 9mobile”, he said.
Bayero assured further that the new board constituted in November 2018 will uphold excellence as the gold standard across all operations of 9mobile and ensure the bar of service quality remains sky-high at every touchpoint.
In his words, “We have competent people with very rich experience that cuts across diverse fields of business. We reiterate our commitment to excellence in all spheres of our operations. We also want to assure you and our valued subscribers that we will justify their confidence in our brand by making significant investments that will improve the value they get for choosing 9mobile.”
While responding, Danbatta expressed delight that 9mobile was already on the path of recovery and growth, stating that he was thankful that the joint regulatory intervention by the NCC and CBN, along with other stakeholders, spared the industry and the Nigerian economy the unpleasant socio-economic effects that would have followed if the transition had not been successful.
“I’m happy that the acquisition process is over and the new board, comprising eminent Nigerians with sound business and professional pedigree, has started steering the affairs of the company in the right direction.
“Now that this take over is concluded, I know that the new board and management of 9mobile are busy trying to ensure that the telco continues to provide the excellent services that they are known for and which is attested to by the quality of service which is characterized by some key performance indicators which the telco has never failed to meet even during the crisis period”, he said.
Danbatta added: “You won’t believe this, but every time we measure the KPIs for all the companies, 9mobile comes up top. And I am not stating this as a marketing stunt for 9mobile, I am saying this arising from the figures we have consistently recorded; 9mobile has one of the best networks in the country, that I can attest to, based on the result of the KPIs characterising Quality of Service.”
9mobile is Nigeria’s fourth largest telecoms operator and the telco in late 2018 successfully delivered a historic transition to its current shareholding structure and inaugurated a new board to chart the course of its next phase of success.
Telecommunication companies have threatened to withdraw their Unstructured Supplementary Services Data (USSD), services from banks over what they called misinformation.
MTN Nigeria, Airtel, Globacom and 9Mobile- the telcos disclosed that the banks’ notice to their customers on the new billing system and airtime deductions for USSD services was misleading.
Also, Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) also denied that the directive was from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
USSD is done via shortcodes on mobile phones and allows bank customers to make transactions in places with limited or no internet service.
Recall that banks earlier this week claimed that NCC has directed them to begin charging them from their airtime rather than from customers’ accounts.
The notice from the banks read in part: “In line with the directive of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), please be informed that effective June 3, 2025, charges for USSD banking services will no longer be deducted from your bank account.
“Going forward, these charges will be deducted directly from your mobile airtime balance in accordance with the NCC’s End-User Billing (EUB) model.
“Under this new billing structure, each USSD session will attract a charge of ?6.98 per 120 seconds, which will be billed by your mobile network operator.
“You will receive a consent prompt at the start of each session, and airtime will only be deducted upon your confirmation and availability of the bank to fulfil this service.
“If you do not wish to continue using USSD banking under this new model, you may choose to discontinue use of the USSD channel.”
Reacting, ALTON, umbrella body of telecom operators in Nigeria, said the banks’ notice is a gross misinformation deliberately hatched to suit their selfish interests.
Hence they threatened to withdraw network support to the banks’ USSD services.
Engr Gbenga Adebayo, chairman of ALTON told Vanguard: ” I don’t understand why the banks are twisting agreements and distorting information just to favour their selfish interests. In the first place, the information wasn’t a directive from the NCC but a joint regulatory agreement between the NCC and the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN witnessed by the telcos and the banks. The agreement was that if the banks finally cleared all USSD debts owed to the telcos by June 2, 2025, they are free to migrate to the end-user billing method, so long as the model of migration is transparent and agreed upon by the telcos.
“The reason for that clause was because the telcos insisted that the process of migration is such that will not allow a customer to be billed twice; in other words, that a subscriber would not have his airtime deducted and also have his or her money deducted for same services from his or her bank account.
” As we speak, some of the banks have cleared their debts, but the majority are yet to do so. So, even if all the modalities of migrating to end-user billing have been perfectly carried out, the implementation cannot even begin because the banks are yet to clear the USSD debt owed to the telcos.
“Our position now is that if that is the way the banks want to treat the agreement, we may withdraw support for their USSD services. It is not a must-have. They can do without it. But, they should clear the debts as agreed,” he added.
MTN Nigeria has announced plans to embark on a massive capital expenditure (CAPEX) drive in 2025, committing nearly N900 billion to significantly enhance network service quality across Nigeria.
Dr. Karl Toriola, CEO, MTN Nigeria,
The substantial investment, more than double the combined CAPEX of approximately N440 billion spent in 2023 and 2024, underscored MTN’s aggressive strategy to address persistent service quality issues and meet growing customer and regulatory expectations.
Dr. Karl Toriola, CEO, MTN Nigeria, detailed this unprecedented financial commitment during a recent interview on Arise TV, emphasizing that improving service quality is the company’s paramount message for the year.
He highlighted a clear understanding and expectation from both the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and security agencies for improved network quality.
A primary focus of this increased CAPEX will be on putting additional capacity in a city like Lagos, particularly in Abuja, where you have a lot of buildings coming up, you need additional sites because there are coverage issues.
Beyond these critical urban centers, the investment aims to bolster network resilience and ensure power stability for its infrastructure nationwide.
This includes proactively addressing site outages by ensuring timely payment for operational necessities such as diesel for generators, a persistent challenge in the Nigerian operating environment.
Toriola outlined a comprehensive upgrade process, which involves placing orders formally, opening letters of credit, and then the equipment gets shipped in and installed.
He added that MTN will be acquiring new sites and laying fiber to the base station to create better stability” where necessary.
While the immediate CAPEX is geared towards improving existing service quality and capacity, this investment aligns with MTN’s broader goals of enhancing financial inclusion in underserved rural areas, suggesting a long-term vision for network expansion and service improvement that extends beyond metropolitan areas.
Subscribers can anticipate tangible improvements in service quality, with a significant improvement in quality of service expected by the end of the second quarter or early in the third quarter of 2025, according to Toriola.
“This year is all going to be about capital expenditure on an aggressive basis to fix quality of service issues (and) meet both the regulators’ and the public’s expectations,” he affirmed, reiterating MTN’s steadfast focus on customer experience through substantial capital investment.
Telecom regulators and industry leaders from across the Middle East and Africa gathered in Cairo last week to chart a data-driven future for the region.
In a region where digital transformation is accelerating at unprecedented speed, connectivity intelligence firm, Ookla and Egypt’s National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) joined forces to organise the Telecommunications Regulatory Summit
Themed ‘Harnessing Data and Technology for Superior QoS’, the summit focused on how data, particularly crowdsourced insights, can transform regulatory strategies across the region.
The summit attracted stakeholders from over 30 countries, including delegates from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and World Broadband Association (WBBA), who engaged in high-level discussions on optimising network performance and accelerating digital inclusion.
Karim Yaici, lead industry analyst for the Middle East and Africa at Ookla, said the event set the tone for the growing value of data-driven decision-making.
“Access to and the use of crowdsourced data contribute to making more informed decisions, fostering transparency and ensuring that citizens in the MEA region benefit from high-quality, accessible and affordable connectivity,” he said.
The experts underlined that crowdsourced data is becoming a critical complement to traditional regulatory methods.
They agreed that it helps identify service gaps, prioritise infrastructure investments, and drive innovation.
With broadband speeds now closely tied to GDP growth and productivity, accurate performance data is seen as key to socio-economic advancement.
Dr. Hossam Abdel-Mawla, vice-president of technical affairs and quality of service at NTRA, stressed that the summit was pivotal in fostering regional collaboration.
“By actively sharing best practices and exploring innovative data-driven strategies, we are shaping a future where telecom regulations ensure digital inclusion and economic growth across the region,” he said.
In a key session, Ahmed Nabawy, director of client services at Ookla, presented findings on 5G performance in Egypt and Tunisia.
He demonstrated how Ookla’s unified data platform, powered by AI, enables operators to analyse 5G-capable device density and prioritise high-impact rollout areas.
The summit also explored the shift from conventional network quality metrics to more user-centric Quality of Experience models. These advanced analytics tools promise to enhance transparency, improve accountability, and ultimately deliver better connectivity experiences for all.
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