by George Ozalla
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is preparing to levy potential penalties totalling about N12.4 billion on major telecommunications operators for widespread breaches of network quality standards, intensifying regulatory enforcement amid persistent consumer complaints and service shortfalls.
The regulator said pre‑enforcement notices have been issued to affected companies as cases progress through internal processes, describing the action as part of one of the most assertive crackdowns on Quality of Service (QoS) compliance in recent years. The fines stem from repeated violations of performance obligations set under revised QoS rules introduced in July 2024, which expanded obligations to include a broader set of infrastructure providers and significantly increased penalty thresholds.
The tougher enforcement follows a directive from the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, urging the NCC to adopt automatic penalties for poor network performance and reduce regulatory discretion. Operators were required to achieve full compliance by September 2025 after a transition period, but extensive audits have uncovered systemic lapses that the commission says warrant substantial sanctions.
Early enforcement actions began in October 2025, when Globacom, Airtel and IHS Towers were jointly fined N45 million for specific infractions. Subsequent audits, including one covering about 65 per cent of base stations in the Federal Capital Territory, identified thousands of infrastructure failures ranging from power and cooling issues to security weaknesses, many of which regulators say have since been remedied.
The NCC said investment alone will not shield operators from penalties, noting that more than $1 billion in new capital flowed into the sector in 2025 with over 2,850 new and upgraded network sites deployed nationwide. It stressed that consumer experience improvements must accompany infrastructure spending and enforcement will focus on tangible outcomes.
Consumer grievances have centred on poor network performance, unexplained data depletion and delayed refunds for failed airtime or data transactions, prompting the regulator to broaden its consumer protection efforts. The NCC is also finalising a structured Spectrum Roadmap for 2025–2030 and updated enforcement regulations to make compliance obligations clearer and sanctions more predictable.
