Abuja, Nigeria – May 26, 2025 | The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has directed telecommunications operators to notify consumers of major service outages, including their causes, affected areas, and estimated downtimes, using media platforms.
The directive, which took effect on Sunday, also mandates that customers must be informed at least seven days ahead of any planned service disruptions. The policy applies to all mobile network operators (MNOs), internet service providers (ISPs), and other last-mile service providers.
This was contained in a statement signed by the Commission’s Acting Head of Public Affairs, Mrs. Nnenna Ukoha, and follows NCC’s efforts to improve transparency and consumer protection in the telecoms sector.
Under the new rules, operators must compensate customers — for example, by extending service validity — if an outage lasts more than 24 hours, in line with the Consumer Code of Practice Regulations.
The NCC defines a “major outage” in three categories:
- Any network disruption, including fibre cuts from construction, access issues, theft, vandalism, or force majeure, that impacts 5% or more of an operator’s subscribers or five or more Local Government Areas (LGAs).
- An unplanned outage or complete isolation of network resources affecting 100 or more sites, or 5% of an operator’s sites (whichever is less), or one cluster, lasting 30 minutes or more.
- Any form of outage that degrades network quality in the top 10 states by traffic volume as determined by the NCC.
Operators are required to report major outages through the NCC’s Major Outage Reporting Portal, available via the Commission’s website, www.ncc.gov.ng. The portal will also disclose the identity of any saboteurs involved in the disruption.
NCC’s Director of Technical Standards and Network Integrity, Engr. Edoyemi Ogor, said the portal has been tested with operators over the past few months, aligning with broader efforts to improve transparency and hold saboteurs accountable.
“By providing consumers and stakeholders with timely and transparent information on network outages, we are entrenching a culture of accountability,” Ogor said. “This also reinforces the need to protect telecommunications infrastructure as Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII), in line with the Executive Order signed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”
Ogor emphasized that safeguarding telecom assets is essential for national security, economic stability, and the daily lives of Nigerians
