NCC Orders MTN, Airtel, Others to Compensate Customers for Network Outages Lasting 24 Hours

• The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has given a new directive, asking telecom firms to compensate customers for service disruption
• The commission disclosed that any interruption lasting more than 24 hours must be compensated commensurately
• It disclosed that telecom operators must also disclose the cause and duration of outages and the identities of persons responsible

Legit.ng’s Pascal Oparada has reported on tech, energy, stocks, investment and the economy for over a decade.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has issued a new directive, ordering telecom companies to compensate customers when a major service disruption lasts longer than 24 hours.

The commission issued the directive on Sunday, May 25, 2025, saying that affected customers have yet to receive commensurate compensation, including service validity extensions in line with the Consumer Code of Practice Regulations.

NCC mandates operators inform customers

According to the reports, the new regulation applies to mobile network operators, internet service providers, and operators delivering last-mile service nationwide.

The telecom regulator said the move is part of efforts to improve service quality, enforce transparency, and protect consumer rights in the industry.

Alongside the compensation, NCC now requires operators to publicly inform consumers of major service disruptions. The information must include the cause of the outage, affected areas, and the estimated service restoration time.

NCC also disclosed that the planned outages must be communicated via appropriate media channels at least a week in advance.

NCC launches outage reporting portal

The NCC defined three major outages in the new directive, including any disruption affecting five per cent or more of an operator’s subscribers due to fibre cuts, theft, vandalism, or force majeure.

Others are the unplanned isolation of 100 or more sites, or five per cent of the operator’s total network sites and service degradation in the top 10 states by traffic volume, as determined by the regulator.

The NCC also launched a portal to report major outages and institutionalise transparency and public supervision.

The platform must also detail current network outages and disclose the identities of those responsible for disruption, especially in sabotage cases.

NCC tests reporting portal

The director of Technical Standards and Network Integrity at the NCC, Ehoyemi Ogor, said the commission had tested the reporting process and portal with operators some months before the new directive.

He disclosed that by providing customers and stakeholders in the telecom sector with timely and transparent information on network outages, the commission is entrenching a culture of accountability and transparency to ensure that culprits are liable for sabotage of telecom infrastructure.

MTN apologises for network disruption

The development comes a weeks after one of the major operators, MTN Nigeria reported a major outage, lasting more than 24 hours.

In response to the complaints, MTN Nigeria issued an official apology, assuring customers that services have been fully restored, the Nation reports.

MTN remains Nigeria’s largest telecommunications operator, boasting a subscriber base of 84.60 million, which represents 51.39% of the total market share.

MTN explains why voice and call service stopped working

Legit.ng earlier reported that MTN had explained why some subscribers could not make or receive calls, and others could not use the internet.

The telecommunication company's subscribers experienced a major network outage for most of Wednesday, February 28.

According to data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), as of December 2023, MTN boasted 87,038,768 subscribers.

Source: Legit.ng