The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has introduced sweeping new regulations requiring all telecom service providers to promptly inform consumers about major network outages through media channels. Operators must disclose the cause of the interruption, the affected areas, and the expected restoration time.
The directive, titled “Directive on Reportage of Major Network Outages by Mobile Network Operators (MNOs),” also mandates advance notice: consumers must be informed at least one week prior to any planned service outage. This initiative is part of the NCC’s broader push to ensure timely outage resolution, improve service quality, and keep the public well-informed.
According to the new rules, Mobile Network Operators, Internet Service Providers, and other last-mile providers must offer proportional compensation—such as validity extensions—for outages lasting more than 24 hours, in line with the Consumer Code of Practice Regulations.
The NCC defines major outages as any operational condition, such as fibre cuts due to construction, vandalism, or force majeure, affecting at least five percent of an operator’s subscriber base or five or more Local Government Areas.
Other qualifying outages include unplanned disruptions at 100 or more sites (or five percent of total sites, whichever is less) lasting 30 minutes or longer, and any outage degrading network quality in the top ten states by traffic volume.
To ensure transparency, all major outages must be reported using the NCC’s newly launched Major Outage Reporting Portal, accessible to the public at www.ncc.gov.ng. The portal will also publicly identify those responsible for service disruptions.
Engr. Edoyemi Ogor, Director of Technical Standards and Network Integrity at the NCC, explained: “The Commission has trialled the reporting process and portal with operators for some months before issuing the directive. By providing consumers and stakeholders with timely and transparent information on network outages, we are entrenching a culture of accountability and transparency. This approach also ensures that culprits are held responsible for sabotage to telecommunications infrastructure.”
He added that the directive aligns with the federal government’s Executive Order, which designates telecom infrastructure as Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII), highlighting its importance to national security and economic stability.
