Frustrated Subscribers Lament Over Telcos’ Poor Service

Frustrated Subscribers Lament Over Telcos’ Poor Service

Telephone subscribers at the weekend cried out over  declining quality of service (QoS) by  their service providers.

The subscribers, under the aegis of the Association of Telephone, CableTv, and Internet Subscribers of Nigeria (ATCIS-Nigeria) and National Association of Telecoms Subscribers of Nigeria (NATCOM) called on the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC)  to stop playing the ostrich and compel   Mobile Network Operators(MNOs), also known as telcos,  to improve their service.

But the  MNOs, who incidentally are pushing for tariff hike, said no complaint of poor service delivery had been escalated to them.

QoS and tariff hike topped the agenda  of a meeting between the NCC, MNOs, ATCIS-Nigeria, and NATCOM on Thursday.

NATCOM National President,  Deolu Ogunbanjo,  said the service rendered by the MNOs had become  ‘’so bad’ that subscribers now lament openly.  He added that the telcos, on their part,   complained about their constraints to expand capacity.”

He said: “It(service delivery) has been so bad. It was one of the issues raised last Thursday but the telcos complained about their constraint to expand capacity and the need to raise tariff.”

Ogunbanjo said he supported the demand for an increase in tariff because it was overdue.

He, however, said an increase must be marginal in order not to asphyxiate the industry.

ATCIS-Nigeria President, Sina Bilesanmi, accused the NCC of pretending that everything was fine while subscribers groaned.

He said that ATCIS-Nigeria members have not only complained about drop calls and inability to originate calls, but they are also unable to access their airtime balance after recharging.

Bilesanmi argued that now that service quality has nosedived, there was no ground for telcos to justify any demand for a tariff increase.

His words: “  I have been inundated with complaints about low service quality from my members.

“ It is worrisome and the NCC is pretending that all is well. This low service quality is coming at a time when the MNOs are asking for a hike in tariff and our members were beginning to show understanding because, quite frankly, the tariff has remained the same for over a decade.

“The operators should tell us if they have any challenges.”

Some subscribers who spoke with The Nation complained bitterly about the services rendered by the telcos..

Mrs E. Kokumo, a civil servant, said sometimes, the signal on her phone would ‘’simply  disappear and would need to restart the phone.’’

“ My experience these days has been less palatable. I was wondering if it’s because of the rainy season. Sometimes, I will just open my phone to make call only to discover that there’s no signal. My husband would advise me to switch off and restart the device. But I get tired of doing this every day. “

For Owolabi Michael, his pain now is disappearing data. According to him, the speed at which the data on his phone disappears is worrisome.

“I am convinced that the request to hike tariffs by the operators is just a formality. When this revolution began, I was using N4,000 data per month. Now, N10,000 is hardly enough for three weeks. When I complained, they said I should check my apps. I disabled some apps, yet the tape continues. The NCC must rise up to the occasion and do the needful,” Owolabi said.

Efforts to get the NCC to respond to the development proved futile as calls made to its  Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka, were not picked up. WhatsApp message sent to him did not elicit a response either.