NCC gives MTN 24 hours to improve signal in Lagos

The Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) on Thursday gave mobile telecommunication company, MTN 24 hours to provide detailed report on, and improve the quality of service in Lagos and its environs or face serious sanctions.

The spokesperson of the commission, Reuben Mouka said in a statement that the network operator failed to inform its subscribers and the commission about its faulty switch in Lagos which is currently down and causing subscribers in unbearable quality of service.

According to the statement the network operator must furnish the commission with details of efforts being made to deal with the situation immediately as failure to do so will incur sanctions.

It said the directive is in line with the commission’s determination to enforce all actions as prescribed by a new regulation on quality of service in the networks.

MTN had last month said that it lost network availability in over 1000 base stations across the country due to damage to its fibre infrastructure.

The telecom company, in a statement had said the development disrupted services and created customer dissatisfaction in the South East, particularly Onitsha, Port Harcourt; Kano; Abuja; Kaduna and Ibadan.

According to the statement, MTN has witnessed an unprecedented rise in criminal damage to its fibre optic network across the country.

Placing the rate of willful damage to its fibre optic network by criminal elements at 25 per cent, MTN said: “On average, MTN suffers more than seventy fibre cuts in different locations across Nigeria on a monthly basis. Typically, 42% are inadvertently caused by poor road construction practices, 25% from wilful damage by criminal elements, and 33% by other causes, suspected to be sabotage.”