*Dr. Aminu Maida, Executive Vice-Chairman and CEO, Nigerian Communications Commission, discloses the telecoms regulator sector has held network operators accountable, having given compensation to 75 million unique mobile subscribers for poor services in 2026 alone
Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect
As part of its consumer protection initiatives in the telecoms space, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has affirmed that Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) compensated 75 million unique mobile subscribers for poor Quality of Service (QoS).
The NCC disclosed the regulatory mandate is in tandem with its efforts at holding service providers accountable for required quality standards while ensuring transparency in the vital sector of the economy.
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ConsumerConnect reports Dr. Aminu Maida, Executive Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (EVC/CEO) of the Commission, confirmed this development at the recent roundtable on “Promise to Proof: The Renewed Hope Conversation” held in Abuja, FCT.
The governing All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Progressive Strategy Roundtable organisation the forum.
The stakeholder engagement focused on finance, training, and market access for small businesses and traders.
It also resolved around discussing achievements that Federal Government agencies under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda have achieved in the last three-and-a-half years.
Maida speaks on objective of MNOs’ compensation to telecoms consumers
Highlighting the rationale for the directive to service providers to compensate subscribers for comparatively poor Quality of Service, Dr. Maida said the compensation was part of the telecoms sector regulatory Commission’s efforts at protecting consumers, and ensure that MNOs provided required quality services.
According to the Executive Vice-Chairman of NCC, subscribers affected by poor network services had received airtime credits from their respective operators as a compensation.
He also stated: “This year (2026) alone, which is the first for the NCC, we have held operators accountable and they have given compensation to 75 million unique mobile subscribers.”
Underscoring the importance of consumer protection in the telecoms environment, the NCC Chief further noted that the Commission, in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), introduced a framework to ensure prompt refunds for failed airtime recharge transactions in the country.
According to him, over three million telecoms consumers had benefited from the consumer refunds framework, which the Commission introduced.
Maida further explained: “In addition, working with the CBN, we have put in place a framework for prompt refund of recharge of failed recharge attempts.
“And again, I think we’ve seen over three million people, consumers benefiting from that framework.”
Upgrades and fresh investments in telecoms infrastructure
Highlighting the level investments in the telecoms sector of the Nigerian economy, Maida revealed that the industry has witnessed a significant return of investments after a period when network operators were largely focused on maintaining existing, and sometimes overstretched infrastructure.
Specifically, telecoms operators invested $1 billion in their networks in 2025, while one of the major mobile network operators has committed to investing over $1 billion in 2026, he stated.
According to him, the particular MNO also has also undertaken the upgrade of approximately 13,000 network sites.
These efforts include the deployment of faster technologies, including 4G and 5G technologies, and the replacement of obsolete equipment on its network across the country’s the telecoms space.
Maida explained that continuous investment is necessary to meet the growing demand for telecoms services, particularly as data consumption had increased by over 50 percent 2025.
The EVC/CEO of NCC further explained the sector, like other capital-intensive industries, required sustained investment to maintain and expand its infrastructure.
He also asserted: “A sector like ours, and sectors like power and other sectors that are capital intensive, you cannot afford to take a break in investing.
“You have to continuously be investing.”
Appreciating the impact of the Federal Government’s policy direction in boosting investments in telecommunications, Maida attributed the return of investments partly to the current administration’s macroeconomic reforms, improved Foreign Exchange (Forex) stability and the removal of fuel subsidy.
All this has helped to make the business environment more attractive to investors in Nigeria, said he.
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Despite the new peaks recorded in the telecoms sector of the Nigerian economy in the course of the year, Maida, however, acknowledged that telecommunications services had yet to reach the level of quality desired by the Commission.
He noted that external challenges, such as vandalism of telecommunications infrastructure across the West African country.
He, therefore, assured Nigerians that the NCC would continue to hold service providers accountable, while encouraging investments that would improve network coverage and service delivery.
Transparency and publication of telecoms coverage maps
Underscoring the strategic importance of transparency in the telecoms sector, Maida equally, touched on the NCC’s focused efforts at promoting transparency through the publication of telecoms coverage maps, based on independently crowdsourced data from actual subscribers.
Reeling off the benefits of the regulatory initiative to telecoms consumers and other stakeholders in the ecosystem, the NCC Executive Vice-Chairman/CEO as well explained that the platform allows consumers to check network availability in their locations, and compare the performance of different operators before deciding which service provider to use.
Maida said: “Now, as a consumer, you can go to our (NCC’s) Web site.
“We publish coverage maps using data which is independently crowdsourced from real subscribers.”
He noted that with the introduction of the initiative, millions of Nigerians no longer needed to depend solely on recommendations from friends and acquaintances to determine which network offered better services in their areas.
The EVC/CEO of the Commission stated: “You can come to the NCC Web site. There’s a public coverage map.
“You enter your location anywhere in Nigeria. It will tell you which networks are available and how do they compare against each other.”
Maida, therefore, urged telecoms consumers to take advantage of the platform to make informed decisions about network services in the Nigerian telecoms space.