Telecom subscribers frustrated by poor service quality months after 50% tariff hike

Telecom subscribers in Nigeria have continued to express frustration over the quality of service being received from network operators, months after the 50% tariff hike that was expected to lead to improved service delivery.

From incessant network outages to slow internet speed, complaints across MTN, Airtel, Globacom and T2 are mounting by the day.

This was in spite of the multimillion-dollar investments in network capacity announced by the telecom operators after the price increment to boost service quality.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) had also assured subscribers that one of the conditions given to the operators before it approved the 50% price hike in January was that they have to improve their service quality.

However, the operators have pinned much of the blame on recurring fibre-optic cable cuts and infrastructure disruptions, saying these are undermining efforts to expand network capacity.

Subscribers’ frustration  

Nigerians have been venting their anger over the worsening service quality. From poor signal strength to intermittent outages, many say it’s becoming unbearable to stay connected despite higher costs.

“This is not a life I swear.  There is no service in my sitting room or kitchen, only in my room, and sometimes no network at all. You can’t even enjoy the data you use your hard-earned money to buy. It’s crazy,” Tolu, a Lagos resident, lamented.

Another subscriber, identified as John, said he had to switch to three different networks last Sunday to be able to transfer money on his mobile app.

“If I did not have up to three different lines with me that day, I would have been in a serious mess. The frequency and length of network downtimes in this country are honestly frustrating!! Every single day, at some point, the network just disappears,” he bemoaned.

For Pelumi Ajayi, another Lagos resident, her frustration stemmed from her 5G router delivering 3G service.

“It’s been almost two months since I bought my 5G router, and all I have been getting is poor service. It only works in the middle of the night, and all I get is 1MBPs and this is supposed to be 5G”. 

These comments mirror thousands of others from subscribers nationwide, highlighting the growing frustration with telecom operators who, they believe, have failed to match rising costs with improved service quality.

Telcos blame fibre cuts

Meanwhile, telecom operators said the current challenges with service quality are a result of an increase in fibre cuts and damage to telecom infrastructure across the country.

While lamenting billions of Naira being spent annually on repairs of damaged cables, the operators said they are also losing money to poor network services.

“It is not in the interest of any network operator that its service is poor because if you are unable to use the service, then we won’t be able to make money from you. When the service is good, you talk more, you use more data, and that is what gives us revenue,” an official of one of the telecom operators told Nairametrics on condition of anonymity.

He noted that rampant cases of fibre cuts have been draining the purse of the telecom operators as they keep spending on repairs while losing revenue during the period of the service outage in affected areas.

Highlighting the severity of the attacks on telecom infrastructure, Senior Manager at Broadbased Communications, Jude Ighomena, revealed that telecom operators lost an estimated N5 billion in 2024 due to infrastructure damage in Lagos State alone.

• According to him, over 2,500 fibre cuts were recorded in the state last year, causing widespread service disruptions and financial losses.
• He noted that Lagos’ busiest commercial districts—Ikeja, Lekki, and Victoria Island—are the most affected, with road construction and private developments frequently damaging underground fibre cables.
• Meanwhile, Alimosho and the Mainland areas are said to have become hotspots for fibre cable theft and vandalism.

NCC worried 

The telecom regulator, NCC, had also recently expressed worry over the rising cases of damage to telecommunications infrastructure nationwide, revealing that MTN, Airtel, 9mobile, and other telecom operators now record an average of 1,100 fibre cuts every week.

Speaking at a forum in Lagos, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Dr. Aminu Maida, disclosed that the operators also record an average of 545 access denial cases and 99 theft incidents weekly, all of which threaten service delivery, operational stability, and national security.

“These are not just numbers. They reflect a national emergency. Every fibre cut, every theft, and every case of sabotage contributes to dropped calls, failed transactions, interrupted emergency services, and economic losses,” Maida warned.

• The NCC boss stressed that the persistent damage to telecom infrastructure has become a major obstacle to Nigeria’s digital transformation goals.
• According to him, with the economy increasingly reliant on resilient digital networks, disruptions caused by vandalism and neglect are stalling progress.

(Nairametrics)