Telcos Rule Out N60Bn Compensation for Poor QoS

Telecom operators under the aegis of Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) said that the demand for airtime compensation worth N606.5 billion being made by telecoms subscribers for poor services provided by the networks was not justifiable.

National Association of Telecoms Subscribers (NATCOMS), the umbrella body of telecoms subscribers in Nigeria is pushing for the compensation for the various inconveniences they had suffered over poor service quality in the last 12 years.

But Gbenga Adebayo, chairman, ALTON, said subscribers’ request for compensation at a time when they are also complaining about the service quality would rather worsen the situation rather than compensate them.

National Mirror quoted Adebayo as saying that the operators expected NATCOMS to be in position to appreciate the various challenges being faced by the operators and also support them on how to jointly resolve the issues.

“The issues here are clear. NATCOMS leadership is quite aware of the problems being faced by operators. Even the Federal Government appreciates the quantum of challenges that we are facing.

“NATCOMS should also realise that if we got to court, there is no way we will come back from the courts and be friends again. But thinking it is by going to court that we can solve the problem, is to see NATCOMS’s action as completely uninformed,” he said.

However, while acknowledging that service hiccups is unavoidable in a country such as Nigeria where cases of fiber cuts is prevalent, where power problem is an issue and where bureaucracy at various levels of government is affecting operators’ plan to deploy infrastructure much faster, Adebayo urged telecoms networks to always keep their subscribers abreast of network problems that they may have.

“As operators, we don’t need to keep mum when we have issues with our networks because it is more dangerous if subscribers suddenly discover the network is failing them without the affected network telling them what the problems is.

“Telecoms operators individually need to communicate more with their subscribers, in such cases and running an open house system, where the media can easily make enquiries and report their findings to the public is indispensable in a country likely ours where we are still contending with a lot of issues, which are affecting our quality of service delivery,” he said.

NATCOMS had on October 10, 2013 filed a suit against NCC, ALTON, MTN, Airtel, Globacom and Etisalat demanding compensation of N5,000 each for the about 120 million active telephone lines being used Nigerians subscribers then.

With about 121 million active telephone lines currently in the country, according to NCC official data, National Mirror leant that NATCOMS is demanding about N606 billion from the operators as compensation for poor services in recent months.

Chief Deolu Ogunbanjo, NATCOMS president  had last December, said then that, “It is a case we will pursue to logical conclusion. If possible, we will go to appeal and supreme courts. It is something we have to put right now. They must understand that subscribers must be given some form of palliatives when there is poor service. That is what we want to establish.’’