A new set of key performance indicators that will ensure improved quality of service across the board in the country has been handed to the telecoms operators.
     
The KPIs, which come with sanctions and fines, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), are targeted at addressing the drop in the country’s quality of telephony service.
     
Contained in the new QoS Regulations 2024 released by the NCC, the telecoms regulator sets specific parameters for the different network segments of network coverages including the 2G, 3G, and 4G and focuses on parameters such as Drop Call Rates, Call Setup Success Rate, Traffic Congestion, among others. To ensure compliance, the NCC has pegged on each parameter a N5 million fine, with an additional N500,000 per day for the period the infraction lasts.      
    
The telecoms regulator said the telcos are to file their QoS report monthly while it would also carry out its measurement through methods, which may include drive tests, consumer surveys, and data collection from its Network Operating Centres (NOCs).  
     
It was learnt that the new NCC directive must have been triggered by the 50 per cent improvement target set for telecoms service by the Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, for the industry to ensure before the end of the year. 
      
Recall that in a recent statement from the telecoms regulator, other targets in Tijani’s Strategic Agenda 2023, include boosting Nigeria’s broadband penetration rate to 70 per cent by the end of 2025; delivering data download speed of 25Mbps in urban areas and 10Mbps in rural areas by the end of 2025; and to provide coverage for, at least, 80 per cent of the country’s population, especially the underserved and unserved populations by the end of 2026. 
    
To achieve the quality-of-service target, the Commission said rather than taking a national outlook on data collection for quality-of-service delivery, it has adopted an approach where more granular data is collected from operators and analysed to determine the quality of service at very small, local levels, to allow the deployment of optimised solutions or regulatory actions where needed.   According to NCC, the approach is to ensure consumers receive an enhanced quality of experience, beyond the narrow and technically-evaluated QoS.