The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has directed telecommunications operators to provide proportional compensation—including validity extensions—to consumers affected by major service outages, as mandated under the Consumer Code of Practice Regulations.
According to Nnenna Ukoha, Acting Head of Public Affairs at the NCC, operators must now disclose the cause, affected areas, and estimated resolution time for any network outage. This measure is aimed at enhancing transparency, consumer trust, and the quality of telecom services.
“We are entrenching a culture of accountability and transparency,” said Edoyemi Ogor, Director of Technical Standards and Network Integrity.
Key Highlights of the Directive:
- Operators must report major outages through the Major Outage Reporting Portal, accessible via the NCC website.
- Outages lasting more than 24 hours must result in proportional compensation.
- Consumers must be notified at least one week in advance for any planned outages.
- The initiative supports the implementation of the Executive Order on Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII) signed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Outages are Categorized as Major if They:
- Affect 5% or more of subscribers, or impact five or more LGAs.
- Involve 100+ sites going offline or the loss of one cluster for over 30 minutes.
- Significantly degrade service in top 10 traffic-heavy states.
The NCC emphasized that the new policy is part of a broader move to protect telecom infrastructure, improve user experience, and hold saboteurs accountable for damages or service failures
