News Highlights:
- The NCC now requires all telecom operators to publicly disclose the causes, affected areas, and estimated restoration times for major service outages.
- Operators must provide proportional compensation, such as service validity extensions, when outages persist beyond 24 hours.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has issued a new directive requiring telecom licensees in Nigeria to inform consumers about major service outages on their networks, Digital TimesNG reports.
The NCC through a statement signed by its Ag. Head, Public Affairs, Nnenna Ukoha, directed that operators must disclose the cause(s) of the service disruption, the affected area(s), and the estimated time for service restoration. These notifications must be made through media channels to ensure wide reach.
It further directed that in cases of planned service outages, operators are mandated to notify consumers at least one week in advance.
This requirement is outlined in the NCC’s newly released “Directive on Reportage of Major Network Outages by Mobile Network Operators (MNOs).” It forms part of the Commission’s broader efforts to improve the quality of experience for telecom users, ensure timely resolution of outages, and keep consumers well-informed.
Furthermore, the directive stipulates that Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), Internet Service Providers (ISPs), and other last-mile service providers must offer appropriate compensation—such as validity extensions—when major outages persist for more than 24 hours.
This compensation must be proportional and aligned with the provisions of the Consumer Code of Practice Regulations.
The directive identifies three categories of major network outages. The first includes any network operational condition, such as fibre cuts resulting from construction activities, access issues, theft, vandalism, or force majeure, that affects five per cent or more of an operator’s subscriber base or impacts five or more Local Government Areas (LGAs).
The second type covers instances of unplanned outages or complete isolation of network resources affecting 100 or more sites, five per cent of the operator’s total sites (whichever is less), or one cluster, lasting for 30 minutes or more.
The third type refers to any form of outage that can degrade network quality in the top 10 states based on traffic volume, as periodically determined by the Commission.
In line with this directive, the Commission has mandated that all major outages must be reported by operators through the Major Outage Reporting Portal, which is publicly accessible via the NCC’s website, www.ncc.gov.ng. The portal also reveals the identity of the party responsible for the disruption.
Speaking on the Directive and the Reporting Portal, the Director of Technical Standards and Network Integrity at the NCC, Engr. Edoyemi Ogor, explained that the Commission had piloted the reporting process and portal with telecom operators over several months before formally issuing the directive.
“By providing consumers and stakeholders in the telecommunications industry with timely and transparent information on network outages, we are entrenching a culture of accountability and transparency. This approach also ensures that culprits are held responsible for sabotage of telecommunications infrastructure.
“This also aligns with our broader commitment to the effective implementation of the Executive Order signed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which designates telecommunications infrastructure as Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII). It reinforces the need to safeguard these assets, given their centrality to national security, economic stability, and the everyday lives of Nigerians,” Ogor said.