The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has issued a directive requiring service providers to promptly inform consumers about major service outages through various media channels.
The NCC outlined new requirements in a statement released Sunday by the Acting Head of Public Affairs, Nnenna Ukoha.
The service providers must now disclose details to subscribers regarding the cause of an outage, the affected areas, and the estimated downtime
"By providing timely updates, operators can help manage consumer expectations and minimize the impact of outages on their daily activities," the statement read.
Additionally, the NCC mandates that customers be notified at least a week in advance of any planned service disruptions. This directive applies to mobile network operators, internet service providers, and other last-mile providers.
Operators are also required to offer appropriate compensation, such as validity extensions, if an outage extends beyond 24 hours, in accordance with the Consumer Code of Practice Regulations.
The NCC identifies three types of major outages:
- Network operational conditions impacting 5% or more of an operator's subscriber base or five or more Local Government Areas (LGAs), such as those caused by construction, access issues, theft, or vandalism.
- Unplanned outages affecting 100 or more sites or 5% of total sites for 30 minutes or more.
- Outages degrading network quality in the top 10 states based on traffic volume.
