The NCC (Nigerian Communications Commission) has released new Quality of Service (QoS) Regulations setting specific benchmarks for various network segments operated by telecom companies, including 2G, 3G, and 4G.
These QoS regulations focus on metrics such as Drop Call Rates, Call Setup Success Rate, Traffic Congestion, and several others. Telecom operators who fail to meet these standards will face a N5 million fine, plus an additional N500,000 daily penalty for each violation.
Through this, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) aims to achieve a 50% improvement in quality of service by the end of the year. This target is part of a broader set of goals, which also includes increasing broadband penetration to 70% by 2025. The introduction of the new QoS regulations may have been influenced by the recent 50% telecom service target set by Dr. Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy.
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According to a recent statement from the NCC, other objectives under Tijani’s Strategic Agenda 2023 include raising Nigeria’s broadband penetration rate to 70% by the end of 2025, ensuring data download speeds of 25Mbps in urban areas and 10Mbps in rural areas by the end of 2025, and expanding coverage to at least 80% of the population, particularly in underserved and unserved areas, by the end of 2026.
These new regulations are being introduced at a time when telecom companies are grappling with challenges such as the effects of Naira devaluation and high inflation, which could impact their ability to invest in network capacity and sustain quality services.
