By Abubakar Yunusa
Tony Emoekpere, president of the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), says persistent network issues affecting telecoms users across the country will not continue beyond this year.
Emoekpere spoke on Tuesday in an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief.
The ATCON president said telcos and other stakeholders are already implementing measures to improve service quality nationwide.
“There have been positive things already being done, projects have already been put in place, and commitments have already been made to regulators by the mobile network operators (MNOs),” he said.
“Most generally, I don’t think these issues should surpass this year.”
Nigeria’s telecommunications sector has faced growing criticism from subscribers over poor network issues, including frequent service disruptions, dropped calls, and concerns over rapid data depletion despite the recent tariff increase approved for operators.
The federal government has also intensified pressure on telecom firms to improve service quality to consumers.
On May 10, Bosun Tijani, minister of communications, innovation and digital economy, instructed operators to address persistent network failures affecting millions of Nigerians.
Reacting to the concerns, Emoekpere said operators, infrastructure providers, service providers, and regulators are collaborating to resolve the problems.
“We continuously engage with the regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), and have been having several meetings across all stakeholders within our sector,” he said.
“The operators, the infrastructure providers, and also the service providers and all hands are on deck. There is a myriad of engagements going on regarding this.”
The ATCON president said network issues were not in the interest of telecoms operators, noting that the industry is equally affected by service disruptions.
“It’s no operator’s best interest to provide poor services. No operator wakes up in the morning to provide a service and is resting, seeing that my service is poor, and they sit down and relax,” he said.
“It’s not in anyone’s interest, definitely not the operators, industry, and ecosystem. Everybody is challenged by these problems, and all hands are on deck to solve these challenges.”
Emoekpere also addressed complaints by subscribers regarding data subscription renewals and expiration.
“What happens is once you renew your subscription, your existing data is added to your new data,” he said.
“Data does not expire; once you renew your subscription, your data gets added to your new subscription.”
He urged consumers experiencing service-related issues to escalate complaints through the NCC’s consumer affairs channels.
