Improve Internet Quality by August or Face Fines, NCC Tells Tower Companies

By Emmanuel Kwada

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has directed tower companies, including IHS Towers, American Tower Corporation (ATC), and Pan-African Towers, to urgently improve their service quality or face regulatory penalties.

The regulator set an August end deadline for these companies to address issues affecting internet quality, such as poor power supply, equipment failures, and insufficient technical support.

NCC Executive Vice Chairman, Aminu Maida, issued the directive during a high-level meeting in Abuja, attended by major tower infrastructure providers and key stakeholders. Maida emphasized that it’s been eleven months since the new regulations came into effect, and companies should have aligned with the expected performance standards by now.

The NCC’s directive places the burden on tower companies to resolve issues of downtime, delayed maintenance, and poor power management that have plagued the network. Tower companies are responsible for ensuring a 24/7 electricity supply to their sites and securing them against theft and vandalism. Any failure at the tower level directly impacts the quality of voice and data services delivered by mobile network operators like MTN, Airtel, and Glo.

The regulator will not accept financial disputes as an excuse for poor service delivery

The NCC is implementing a transparency-focused enforcement strategy, including a Major Incident Reporting Portal and performance dashboards to track operators’ adherence to Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). The regulator will not accept financial disputes as an excuse for poor service delivery, emphasizing that operators must fulfill both technical and financial responsibilities.

The NCC’s move aims to improve internet quality and reliability in Nigeria, where mobile data is crucial for communication, business, and daily life.