NCC Mandates Telcos to Report Major Outages, Launches Public Portal for Transparency

ABUJA, Nigeria – May 25, 2025– The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has issued a directive compelling telecommunications licensees in Nigeria to promptly inform consumers about major service outages on their networks via media channels. This new mandate requires operators to specify the cause(s) of interruption, affected areas, and estimated restoration times. For planned service outages, consumers must be notified a week in advance. 

This development, outlined in the "Directive on Reportage of Major Network Outages by Mobile Network Operators (MNOs)," aims to ensure the timely resolution of outages, enhance the quality of experience for telecom consumers, and keep the public adequately informed.

Under the new directive, Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), Internet Service Providers (ISPs), and other last-mile service providers are now required to provide proportional compensation, including validity extensions, in line with the Consumer Code of Practice Regulations, should any major network outage persist for more than 24 hours.

The NCC has clearly defined three types of "major outages" that trigger this reporting requirement:

* Any network operational condition (such as fibre cuts due to construction, access issues, theft, vandalism, or force majeure) that impacts five percent or more of the affected operator's subscriber base or five or more Local Government Areas (LGAs).

* An unplanned outage or complete isolation of network resources in 100 or more sites, or five percent of the total number of sites (whichever is less), or one cluster, lasting for 30 minutes or more.

* Any form of outage that could degrade network quality in the top 10 states based on traffic volume, as specified by the Commission.

In a move to bolster transparency and accountability, the Commission has further directed that all major outages must be reported by operators through the newly launched **Major Outage Reporting Portal**, accessible to the public via the NCC's official website, www.ncc.gov.ng. The portal will also disclose the identity of the culprit responsible for any reported disruption.

Commenting on the new directive and portal, Engr. Edoyemi Ogor, Director of Technical Standards and Network Integrity at the NCC, stated, "The Commission has trialled the reporting process and portal with operators for some months now before issuing the directive."

Ogor emphasized that "By providing consumers and stakeholders in the telecommunications industry with timely and transparent information on network outages, we are entrenching a culture of accountability and transparency. This approach also ensures that culprits are held responsible for sabotage to telecommunications infrastructure."

He added that this initiative "aligns with our broader commitment to the effective implementation of the Executive Order signed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which designates telecommunications infrastructure as Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII). It reinforces the need to safeguard these assets, given their centrality to national security, economic stability, and the everyday lives of Nigerians.”