Subscribers lodge 13, 880 complaints against telecoms operators

Telecoms subscribers in the country registered over 13,880 abuses against the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) in quarter one, although complaints about poor services dropped during the period..

According to the Nigerian Telecoms Consumer Complaints Report Q1 2018 released yesterday by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the number of complaints against MTN, Globacom, Airtel and 9Mobile decreased by 3,367 from 17, 247 in Q4 2017 to 13, 880 in Q1, 2018.

The drop in consumer complaints could be due to improvement in the quality of both voice and data services offered by the providers.

The Chairman, Technical Committee, Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Aremu Babajide, noted that service providers are seriously working to ensure subscribers get the best.

According to him, subscribers are in for the best this season as some regulations to enhance service delivery, including National Roaming and Active Infrastructure sharing policies, would soon be introduced.

Further analysis of the statistics showed that MTN, probably being the largest operator in terms of market share and subscription base in Nigeria, got the highest complaints of 6,120 (44 per cent) against it.

The NCC report, which contained the figures, also revealed that as at March 31, about 9.3 million telecoms service users had activated the Do-Not-Disturb (DND) code both on full and partial basis.

On consumer complaints, the report put Airtel as second, with 3,143 (23 per cent) registered abuses against it. National operator, Globacom was third with 2, 885 (21 per cent) of the complaints, while 9Mobile, which is still looking for new investor, got 1,705 complaints, representing 12 per cent.

The report also revealed that the about 150 million active subscribers complained bitterly of over billing. Billing issues accounted for 7, 046 (51 per cent).

This was followed by Value Added Service issues with 1, 897 (14 per cent); SMS issues accounted for 1, 104 (8 per cent); Call set-up challenges recorded 1, 189 (9 per cent).

The billing-related complaints include deductions from activations of unsolicited VAS and telecom promotions and products; over deduction (inaccurate charges); charges for unsuccessful calls and undelivered SMS; and charges for caller ring back tune not downloaded, among others.

The complaints against poor data services accounted for seven per cent, which was 1, 022; unsuccessful DND request got 298 complaints (two per cent); recharge card challenges had 454 complaints (three per cent); SIM-related issues got 429 complaints (three per cent); while sales promotion claims recorded 199 (one per cent) of all the complaints.