The resulting operating costs can lessen the money accessible for network expansion and modernisation.
There are furthermore remaining concerns over the price and complexity of infrastructure deployment. Together with subscribers paying extra for connectivity, expectations have moreover risen for greater transparency in information consumption and improvements in offering level.
The NCC and operators have, nevertheless, attributed brisk information consumption in some cases to factors such as high-definition video streaming, automatic video playback, software updates, cloud backups, account applications, and device preferences. The Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Electronic Economy’s Project BRIDGE is designed to broaden available-connection fibre infrastructure, whereas other initiatives are targeting continued connectivity and infrastructure capacity.
The NCC has additionally strengthened its monitoring of network operation, including assessments of feature of offering and characteristic of be aware of covering issues such as speed, stability, responsiveness and area differences in network output.
Telecom stakeholder Teju Abolade, nevertheless, said that not every subscriber complaint can be addressed by path of supplementary infrastructure alone, notably where the problem involves a misunderstanding of how mobile applications consume statistics.
Abolade said operators and regulators needed to intensify consumer education to guide subscribers identify how applications and background services alter facts consumption.
“What I consider we wish for to do additional is sensitisation. The NCC figures showed that the four operators recorded 23,396 complaints precisely relating to information depletion during the six months, together with MTN accounting for 12,212, Airtel 9,806, Globacom 1,373 and T2mobile five.
The problem has additionally generated sustained complaints and discuss amid subscribers on X, in the past Twitter, where users regularly raise concerns regarding how speedily purchased facts bundles are exhausted and look for explanations from operators, together with the social media discussion reflecting a consumer worry that has additionally appeared in the NCC’s appropriate complaint metrics.
Concerns around figures depletion have become extra considerable following the telecom tariff adjustments approved by the NCC in January 2025. Such incidents can force operators to reroute traffic, undertake emergency repairs and exchange damaged infrastructure, whilst consumers and businesses may receive slower connections or interruptions to web-based services.
Nonetheless, power deliver presents another structural constraint. Whereas the Nigerian Governors’ Forum agreed to a usual Right-of-Route expense of N145 per linear metre, field stakeholders have continued to lift concerns regarding differing charges and administrative requirements across states.
The Federal Government has meanwhile introduced initiatives aimed at addressing some of the infrastructure gaps. Network execution is directly affected by unreliable electricity deliver, fibre cuts arising from road construction, vandalism, theft, Right-of-Route delays and countless taxation,” Adebayo said.
The examine comes against the backdrop of persistent resources expenditure by operators and other telecommunications infrastructure providers. Operators run thousands of base stations and network facilities that wish for constant electricity, forcing them to rely on diesel, gas, batteries and option energy systems where grid provide is inadequate.
Telecom field stakeholders have blamed unreliable electricity, fibre cuts and multiple taxes and levies for the lasting inferior characteristic of support (QoS), even as the sector has attracted greater than $75 billion in investment over the past 25 years, transforming connectivity and supporting economic activities.
Despite these investments to increase infrastructure, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) ‘s consumer complaint figures showed that the four operators covered by the figures recorded 413,587 complaints in the middle of January and June 2026.
According to the statistics, complaints covered standard of recommend, billing, statistics depletion, failed payment transactions, top-up problems, quantity portability, value-added services and SIM-connected issues.
Airtel recorded 228,992 complaints, followed by MTN alongside 124,405, Globacom including 56,810 and T2mobile, earlier than 9mobile, alongside 3,885.
The operators reported resolving 406,938 complaints, representing 98.38 per cent of the overall.
Figures depletion has furthermore remained a important source of subscriber frustration. The greater key inquiry is how we apply that base to drive the upcoming phase of economic and social transformation,” Aboki said.
Similarly, Economist and Managing Handbook of Financial Derivatives Firm, Bismarck Rewane, has described telecommunications as having evolved from a usual solution offer into decisive economic infrastructure that supports banking, transaction, healthcare, transportation, education, and other sectors. We demand to assistance consumers or subscribers comprehend how figures is consumed and depleted,” he said.
He added that larger consumer education could lessen avoidable disputes over facts usage, urging the NCC and other stakeholders to utilize acknowledged and electronic platforms to continuously educate subscribers.
The Executive Secretary of the West Africa Telecommunications Regulators Assembly (WATRA), Aliyu Yusuf Aboki, said the field now needed to travel beyond measuring telecommunications progress chiefly across subscriber numbers and connectivity, towards employing the infrastructure as a fund for productivity, innovation and web-based inclusion.
“The evidence of success is already plain. The regulator moreover advises subscribers who dispute statistics usage to primary strategy their solution providers and secure complaint reference numbers ahead of escalating unresolved cases to the NCC.
LINKED: Fibre Cuts Threaten 8,526 Network Expansion Gains, NCC Warns
Meanwhile, the broader complaint figures detail to operating pressure on telecommunications infrastructure and facility delivery, just as business area stakeholders have linked network operation to different factors, including fibre cuts, unreliable electricity furnish, vandalism, right-of-route challenges, and numerous taxes and levies.
Chairman of the Relationship of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Gbenga Adebayo, said improving characteristic of facility required addressing the broader operating environment rather than relying solely on regulatory penalties.
“Characteristic of Support cannot be improved by route of fines and penalties alone. Business area estimates put united finance expenditure by mobile network operators, tower companies and other commerce players at concerning N2.13 trillion in 2025, using on N1.86 trillion planned for 2026, covering network expansion, technology upgrades and resilience.
The scale of spending raises a broader aspect for the field: whether the reject is now merely attracting additional assets or ensuring that available and fresh infrastructure can withstand the pressures placed on it.
During the time that summon for for telecommunications services is rising rapidly. NCC statistics showed internet usage reached 1.66 million terabytes in July 2026, up from on 1.13 million terabytes in July 2025, reflecting the growing volume of traffic carried across Nigeria’s networks.
The growth in demand is placing supplementary pressure on fibre networks, base stations, transmission infrastructure, spectrum and figures centres, although telecommunications has become increasingly embedded in financial services, business, education, transportation and other sectors of the economy.
Infrastructure resilience remains another important subject, even as the NCC has disclosed thousands of fibre-cut incidents, alongside road construction, excavation and relevant civil works within the causes. He said the sector’s significance should consequently be measured not solely by steer investment but too by the wider economic task enabled by connectivity.
Using electronic payments, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, e-exchange and remote services increasingly dependent on telecommunications infrastructure, network disruptions now have consequences beyond the telecom field.
Therefore, the key inquiry is no longer just how to draw further investment into telecommunications, but how to safeguard established infrastructure, sustain the upcoming cycle of investment expenditure and interpret investment into additional consistent and predictable connectivity for consumers and businesses.
Source: Poor Service: Telecom Stakeholders Blame Unstable Power Supply, Fibre Cuts, Levies
