Telecom
Pomp, Fervour as NCC Marks TCP @ 10
Encomiums poured ceaselessly last Friday at the event to mark the 10th anniversary of the Telecom Consumer Parliament (TCP), the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanism of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) as excited stakeholders toasted to the success and longevity of the platform designed by the Commission to bring stakeholders in the telecommunications industry together with the aim of resolving consumer complaints, Nigeria CommunicationsWeek can report.
The event which was held in Lagos attracted the crème of the telecommunications industry; all which spared glowing commendations for the NCC for setting the TCP that also informs and educates stakeholders on topical issues that affect the industry.
Mrs. Omobola Johnson, minister of Communication Technology, commended the NCC for the establishment and management of the TCP, adding that more could be achieve through consumers’ continued suggestions.
Johnson, said that the establishment of TCP by the nation’s telecom regulatory body 10 years ago was first of its kind in the history of telecommunication.
This, she added, had earned the Commission great commendation from the International Telecommunication Union and respect in the eyes of other nations’ regulatory bodies.
Johnson who was represented at TCP’s 10th Anniversary in Lagos by Engineer Festus Daudu, director, Spectrum Management in the Ministry, charged telecom consumers on useful suggestions capable of assisting government and the Commission in policy direction and regulatory framework.
“The Parliament since inception has made great impact and contributed to the development of telecommunication in the country. It has also assisted the Commission in its regulatory processes to ensure that both the service providers and the consumers all benefit from each other,” the Minister said.
On his part, Dr. Eugene Juwah, executive chairman and chief executive officer of NCC, said that the TCP’s edition was special due to the commemoration of the 10th anniversary on one hand and the celebration of the consumer as a king, on the other hand.
“Taking you through memory lane, Nigeria has witnessed a voice telephone revolution in the last 12 years when the total connected lines was mere 400,000 in 2001. Today, the total active lines in the country have reached a phenomenal 117 million as at the end of January 2014. The next revolution is out regulatory agenda is ‘Broadband Revolution’”. He added
Acknowledging the role of Broadband to national development, Juwah said, the Federal Government has taken several steps including the articulation of a national broadband plan as well as continually taking steps at providing an enabling environment for the development of infrastructure that will support the growth and access to broadband services at affordable cost to consumers.
The framework to support the broadband infrastructure has been fully articulated and is being implemented by the Commission as reflected in the Open Access model adopted for the country.
Earlier in a welcome address, Maryam Bayi, director, Consumer Affairs Bureau at NCC, said the NCC receives complaints daily from its automated call centres from aggrieved subscribers over poor quality of service, drop calls and unsolicited text messages sent by operators.
By implication, many Nigerians are following the trends in the industry to register their grievances.
Bayi said at various occasions, operators had been invited for a meeting with the commission where they had received instructions to desist from dispatching unsolicited SMS, warning that operators would be sanctioned for failure to comply with the directive.
As part of pragmatic steps taken by the commission to ensure improved quality of service, the Director of Consumer Affairs Bureau said NCC has set up Quality of Service Unit in the commission to receive consumers’ complaints and protect their interests.
Bayo said that in the last 10 years, NCC has been addressing critical issues like quality of service, regulations for consumers, mobile number portability (MNP), among others.
She pointed out that NCC, specifically, initiated MNP for subscribers in order to promote competition among service operators as well as address the issue of poor quality of service in Nigeria.
Nigeria CommunicationsWeek can also report that the event attracted industry wide approval and commendations from operators and consumer s.
Wale Goodluck, corporate services executive at MTN Nigeria, said that TCP has become an invaluable platform to ascertain consumers’ needs and complaints, adding that the MTN as a network holds consumer satisfaction high.
He commended NCC’s vision in setting up the Parliament, which according to him has lived up to its expectations in the last 10 years.
Goodluck maintained that MTN through its various programmes has affected the lives of consumers positively, especially through the MTN Foundation programmes.
Nodding in agreement, Osondu Nwokoro, director of Regulatory Affairs, Airtel Nigeria, said the operator has not relented in heeding to consumers’ requests emanating from TCP sessions.
He added that Airtel is building a network the consumers shall remain proud of, hence TCP sessions provided them with knowledge on the directions, aspirations and demands of the consumers.
Also, Olajide Aremu, head of Network Operating Centre (NOC), Glo, said the network has always identified with the consumers, especially the students.
He said due to the opportunities provided by NCC through TCP, Glo has carved a niche for itself in the hearts of educational institutions hence it has connected several educational institutions with more on the line.
Hajia Hauwa Barkindo, a consumer who made it all the way from Kano state advised telecommunications subscribers to avail themselves of the TCP in resolving issues affecting them.
“I think the NCC has provided the best platform for consumer education and tackling the issues in the industry, it is left for us (consumers to use this platform” Barkindo, added.
The high point of the event was the presentation of awards to some telecom companies for their resolving issues affecting consumers with Etisalat bagging the best network award at the anniversary.
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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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