The Federal Government has declared its full support for the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to carry out its mandate of monitoring performance, enforcing service standards, and ensuring compliance across the telecommunications sector.
Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, who stated the position of the government at the weekend, said that the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration has fully empowered the NCC to ensure service delivery especially by Mobile network Operators (MNOs), without any interference whatsoever.
A statement by Dr Tijani stated that it is the responsibility of MTN Nigeria, Airtel Nigeria, Globacom, and T2 to take all necessary steps to resolve network challenges and deliver the level of service Nigerians expect.
The Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy minister stated that the conditions required for improved service delivery have been established, thus the federal government would rely on the NCC’s periodic reports to track network performance, feedback from Nigerians, as well as complaints and experiences shared across public platforms.
Tijani said; “Going forward, we expect to see clear and measurable improvements in call quality, data performance and coverage. Where operators deliver, it will be recognised.
Where they do not, the Commission is expected to take appropriate regulatory action”.
Tijani expressed optimism that Nigerians would begin to see improvements in Quality of Service (QoS) and get value that they paid for now and in the future.
The minister noted that on assumption of office in 2023, it was clear that Nigeria’s connectivity challenges were structural, driven by years of underinvestment in infrastructure and constraints that limited the ability of operators to deliver quality service.
According to Tijani; “We have secured funding, led by the World Bank, and established the framework for a special purpose vehicle with Project BRIDGE, to deliver nationwide open access fibre infrastructure.
“Deployment of fibre will commence, alongside new tower rollouts through NUCAP, before the end of the year even as we also expand our satellite capability.
“These investments will address the foundational gaps in our digital infrastructure over the next 2 to 5 years and permanently transform connectivity across Nigeria,” he assured.
The minister explained that what this means in practical terms is that a small business owner should be able to access reliable, high speed fibre internet directly at their home or shop, and not rely solely on dongles or unstable mobile connections that is the level of meaningful connectivity the industry is building towards.
He further said; “We took a hard look at the sustainability of the telecommunications sector and made the necessary decisions to restore it. This included allowing tariff adjustments, alongside broader reforms such as the designation of telecom infrastructure as critical national infrastructure, harmonise taxes, and macroeconomic reforms including the floating of the naira and the removal of fuel subsidies.
“As a result, operators are now operating in a more stable, transparent, and market driven environment and have returned to profitability. This is important as it means operators now have both the capacity and the resources to fix outstanding issues within their networks and improve the quality of service delivered to Nigerians,” he said.
