Reps give MTN, Airtel, Glo, Mafab seven days to face poor service probe

The House of Representatives has ordered MTN Nigeria, Airtel, Globacom and Mafab Communications Ltd to appear before its ad hoc committee within seven days. The committee is probing the deteriorating quality of telecommunications services across Nigeria.

Lawmakers directed the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to enforce compliance after the operators failed to honour earlier invitations to explain the declining standard of their services.

Lawmakers tie telecoms to POS, banking

Olumide Osoba, chairman of the House committee, said at the investigative hearing that mobile connectivity had grown beyond basic voice calls and internet browsing. He said it had become a backbone of commercial activity in Nigeria, particularly Point of Sale (POS) transactions.

Osoba said banks, companies and other critical institutions depended heavily on reliable telecommunications infrastructure. He described the decline in service quality as a matter of national concern.

NCC says 75 million subscribers compensated

The summons came shortly after NCC Executive Vice Chairman Dr Aminu Maida said 75 million subscribers across Nigeria had received compensation for poor network services. Maida disclosed this on Tuesday, October 20, at the 95th Telecom Consumer Parliament in Lagos.

He also said nearly three million subscribers had received refunds for failed airtime and data purchases. The NCC chief said telecom operators carried out more than 6,500 network interventions in 2026, covering equipment upgrades, the deployment of new sites and capacity expansion in high-demand areas.

Despite the interventions, Maida acknowledged that compensation alone could not undo the harm caused by poor service. Fibre-optic cable cuts during road construction, as well as the theft of equipment, batteries and fuel from telecom sites, have remained significant obstacles to reliable service delivery.

Maida said: "Compensation matters, but it cannot recover a lost business opportunity or an important conversation that could not take place, so our priority remains reducing the failures that make it necessary."

New data rules, device checks

The NCC said it was working with relevant authorities to protect telecommunications infrastructure and reduce disruptions.

The commission also plans to introduce new rules requiring operators to provide subscribers with clearer data usage notifications. The proposed rules cover daily consumption updates, remaining balance alerts and detailed usage records. They are designed to help consumers identify discrepancies in their data usage and challenge disputed charges.

The NCC has also warned that unapproved mobile phones and other non-compliant devices may be blocked from accessing Nigerian mobile networks, including those operated by MTN, Airtel and Glo. It urged consumers to verify the approval status of their devices before buying them, particularly second-hand phones and devices imported from abroad.

For Nigerian businesses, the standoff puts pressure on telecom operators to improve uptime, especially for POS agents and companies that depend on mobile data for daily transactions.