Get Guardian on GoogleMore than 75 million Nigerian telecom subscribers have received airtime or data compensation for poor network services since the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) introduced its Consumer Compensation Framework in March 2026, in what the regulator has described as one of the largest consumer redress exercises in the country’s telecommunications history.
But the Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, says the industry’s real priority is making that compensation unnecessary.
The ALTON Chairman, who spoke to journalists at the weekend, commended the NCC for the framework while drawing a careful distinction between compensating subscribers and solving the problems that cause poor service in the first place.
“We commend the Nigerian Communications Commission for recognising the importance of consumer experience and taking steps to ensure that subscribers are not left without some form of redress when they experience poor network service,” he said.
The compensation programme, which took effect in April 2026, requires operators to provide automatic airtime credits to subscribers in local government areas where network performance falls below prescribed thresholds for voice, data and SMS services.
The NCC’s Executive Vice Chairman, Dr Aminu Maida, disclosed the 75 million figure at the regulator’s 95th Telecom Consumers Parliament in Lagos in October, alongside confirmation that operators had carried out more than 7,000 targeted network interventions during the year. The scale of the exercise reflects both the pervasiveness of service complaints and the ambition of the regulatory response.
The regulator has also begun independently verifying operators’ compensation claims. At its 109th Board Meeting in May 2026, the NCC noted that while operators reported full compliance with the directive, the Commission would conduct its own validation exercise rather than relying solely on operator submissions. Industry observers have described the verification as a signal of the NCC’s growing emphasis on accountability and measurable consumer outcomes.
Adebayo welcomed the scrutiny, saying, “Consumer protection is fundamental to the sustainability of the telecommunications industry. Subscribers must receive value for the services they pay for, and operators must be held to appropriate standards of performance.”
He, however, noted that compensation is by design a remedial measure. “It provides some form of redress after a subscriber has experienced poor service. It does not, in itself, resolve the underlying infrastructure challenges responsible for service degradation,” he said, adding that the industry’s preference “is always to prevent poor service rather than compensate for it after the event.”
The underlying challenges he referred to are substantial. ALTON’s own data attributes approximately 40 per cent of quality-of-service incidents to inadequate electricity supply, 29 per cent to fibre-optic cable disruptions and 7 per cent to security-related constraints. NCC figures show that operators recorded 5,934 fibre cuts in the first quarter of 2026 alone, while diesel prices rose from approximately ₦978 to ₦2,050 per litre between February and September.
ALTON has disclosed that operators invested ₦2.13 trillion in capital expenditure in 2025 and have committed ₦1.86 trillion for 2026, directed at network expansion, technology upgrades and infrastructure resilience. That spending, Adebayo argued, is the industry’s substantive response to subscriber complaints. Operators have also deployed more than 5,000 new network sites in 2026.
Energy costs compound the challenge. Operators consume over 40 million litres of diesel monthly, and the Federal Government’s approval of a 50 per cent tariff adjustment in 2025, while welcome, has only partially offset the cost pressures facing the sector.
Adebayo acknowledged that the framework has introduced a useful layer of accountability, but argued that its success should ultimately be measured by whether it contributes to lasting improvements in network performance rather than the volume of compensation distributed.
“The best compensation a subscriber can receive is a reliable network that makes compensation unnecessary,” he said.
The telecommunications sector serves over 220 million active subscriptions in Nigeria and contributes more than 14 per cent of GDP. Adebayo said the compensation framework, combined with continued infrastructure investment and regulatory oversight, could help restore subscriber confidence, provided the underlying challenges of power supply, fibre protection and right-of-way access are addressed in parallel.
“We are committed to working with the NCC to make this framework succeed,” he said. “The measure of that success will be fewer complaints, better service and less need for compensation over time.”
