Telecom subscribers in Nigeria have continued to specific frustration over the standard of service being obtained from community operators, months after the 50% tariff hike that was anticipated to result in improved service supply.
From incessant community outages to gradual web pace, complaints throughout MTN, Airtel, Globacom and T2 are mounting by the day.
This was regardless of the multimillion-dollar investments in community capability introduced by the telecom operators after the worth increment to spice up service high quality.
The Nigerian Communications Fee (NCC) had additionally assured subscribers that one of many situations given to the operators earlier than it authorized the 50% worth hike in January was that they’ve to enhance their service high quality.
Nonetheless, the operators have pinned a lot of the blame on recurring fibre-optic cable cuts and infrastructure disruptions, saying these are undermining efforts to broaden community capability.
Nigerians have been venting their anger over the worsening service high quality. From poor sign energy to intermittent outages, many say it’s turning into insufferable to remain linked regardless of larger prices.
“This isn’t a life I swear. There isn’t a service in my sitting room or kitchen, solely in my room, and generally no community in any respect. You possibly can’t even benefit from the knowledge you utilize your hard-earned cash to purchase. It’s loopy,” Tolu, a Lagos resident, lamented.
One other subscriber, recognized as John, mentioned he needed to change to a few completely different networks final Sunday to have the ability to switch cash on his cellular app.
“If I didn’t have as much as three completely different strains with me that day, I might have been in a severe mess. The frequency and size of community downtimes on this nation are truthfully irritating!! Each single day, sooner or later, the community simply disappears,” he bemoaned.
For Pelumi Ajayi, one other Lagos resident, her frustration stemmed from her 5G router delivering 3G service.
“It’s been virtually two months since I purchased my 5G router, and all I’ve been getting is poor service. It solely works in the course of the evening, and all I get is 1MBPs and that is purported to be 5G”.
These feedback mirror hundreds of others from subscribers nationwide, highlighting the rising frustration with telecom operators who, they imagine, have didn’t match rising prices with improved service high quality.
In the meantime, telecom operators mentioned the present challenges with service high quality are a results of a rise in fibre cuts and injury to telecom infrastructure throughout the nation.
Whereas lamenting billions of Naira being spent yearly on repairs of broken cables, the operators mentioned they’re additionally shedding cash to poor community companies.
“It isn’t within the curiosity of any community operator that its service is poor as a result of in case you are unable to make use of the service, then we received’t be capable to become profitable from you. When the service is nice, you discuss extra, you utilize extra knowledge, and that’s what provides us income,” an official of one of many telecom operators advised Nairametrics on situation of anonymity.
He famous that rampant instances of fibre cuts have been draining the purse of the telecom operators as they preserve spending on repairs whereas shedding income throughout the interval of the service outage in affected areas.
Highlighting the severity of the assaults on telecom infrastructure, Senior Supervisor at Broadbased Communications, Jude Ighomena, revealed that telecom operators misplaced an estimated N5 billion in 2024 as a result of infrastructure injury in Lagos State alone.
The telecom regulator, NCC, had additionally not too long ago expressed fear over the rising instances of injury to telecommunications infrastructure nationwide, revealing that MTN, Airtel, 9mobile, and different telecom operators now document a median of 1,100 fibre cuts each week.
Talking at a discussion board in Lagos, the Government Vice Chairman of the Fee, Dr. Aminu Maida, disclosed that the operators additionally document a median of 545 entry denial instances and 99 theft incidents weekly, all of which threaten service supply, operational stability, and nationwide safety.
“These should not simply numbers. They mirror a nationwide emergency. Each fibre reduce, each theft, and each case of sabotage contributes to dropped calls, failed transactions, interrupted emergency companies, and {economic} losses,” Maida warned.
Regardless of the present challenges, the telecom operators are doubling down on their investments in infrastructure to enhance their service high quality and meet the rising calls for for knowledge within the nation
Within the first half of 2025, MTN reported that it invested N565.7 billion to speed up the enlargement of its community infrastructure, marking a 288.4% enhance in capital expenditure in comparison with the identical interval final 12 months.
MTN mentioned the surge in capex, excluding lease funds, was mandatory to fulfill rising knowledge site visitors and enhance service high quality for its over 84 million subscribers.
A breakdown of the investments reveals that MTN deployed 240 new 4G websites, expanded its fiber-to-home community, and commenced work on a brand new knowledge centre to fulfill growing digital demand.
Equally, Airtel Africa, the mum or dad firm of Airtel Nigeria mentioned it additionally elevated capital expenditure in Nigeria to $39 million within the second quarter of 2025, up 1.7 from $38 million in the identical interval final 12 months.
Airtel Nigeria in Might this 12 months, had introduced plans to double its capital funding this 12 months because it seeks to speed up the deployment of 5G and broaden its community protection.
Based on the telco, the brand new funding drive will cowl a variety of areas together with crucial infrastructure upgrades, rural community enlargement, superior knowledge options, buyer expertise enhancements, and community-focused initiatives.
The influence of the committee has, nonetheless, but to be felt as incidents of fibre cuts proceed every day.
The influence of the committee has, nonetheless, but to be felt as incidents of fibre cuts proceed every day.
