Nigeria's regulator passes on better mobile service

Nigeria's 54 million mobile phone users will have to wait longer for better service. The country's regulatory authority has ruled out an immediate end to poor service quality, even as it expressed optimism that investment in the sector will quadruple in the next five years.

An average Nigerian telephone user subscribes to a minimum of two mobile networks to increase the chances of connecting, and it is usual for a subscriber to carry two to four mobile phones.

In Lagos, the country's commercial capital, consumers will continue to experience service issues until the nation has sufficient terrestrial infrastructures to carry the increasing volume of telecom traffic, said Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) CEO Ernest Ndukwe.

"The quality of service is a challenge that comes with a growing network," he said. "Mobile services started over 30 years ago, but Nigeria woke up properly to it about seven years ago and started expanding on it."

"Terrestrial infrastructures need to be all around the country," he added, "and until we get to that point where we have some semblance of sufficiency, we will not have that potent network... For now, a 100 percent quality of service is not entirely possible within the environment we find ourselves in Nigeria, if the obvious must be stated."

"NCC is concentrating on encouraging operating networks to continue to expand and also committed to ensuring that people get fair treatment," Ndukwe said. "Operators must not make people pay for services that are not delivered, so billing must be concrete and accurate."

The regulator ruled out the likelihood of asking operators to stop selling new SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) cards, as advised by some critics. To the NCC, such action would not improve service and would only deny telephone services to Nigerians.

Ndukwe said more than US$12 billion has been invested in the sector in the last seven years and expressed optimism that there will be a continuous massive injection of private sector funds in the industry from international investors.

With more than a dozen licensed unified operators offering GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) and CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) service, Ndukwe noted that the 54 million current subscriber base is still far from meeting the country's desired goal of connecting all its citizens, particularly those in rural communities.

"With the growth rate that is happening in the industry today, I think there's still a lot of territory to conquer," he said. "This country has been growing subscriber lines in excess of 1.2 million lines per month [this year], which means that the market would continue to open as we reach more and more into the hinterlands. People are looking for services, phones, connection."