Quality of service challenges hit Abuja subscribers

Telecom subscribers in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have been hit by poor service quality in the city which is the seat of government.

While the current trivial of the subscribers have been blamed on the activities of the National Oil and Gas Suppliers Association (NOGASA), which disrupted diesel supplies to sites with the attendant telecommunications services outages in the city, the issue of expanding infrastructure to make the infrastructure more resilient had been hampered by the refusal of authorities to grant approvals,

Reacting to the development, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said it acknowledged the development and restated its commitment to ensuring seamless communication services for all Nigerians and recognizes the importance of reliable power supply for the provision of optimal telecommunication services.

“The NCC acknowledges the Quality of Service (QoS) challenges being experienced in Abuja, which have impacted the quality of experience of telecommunications subscribers.

 “In response, the Commission is collaborating with major stakeholders and licensees to address these challenges, largely caused by disruption to diesel supply affecting IHS Nigeria Limited, the colocation provider responsible for powering Airtel and MTN base stations in the affected areas.

 “The challenges are a result of the activities of the National Oil and Gas Suppliers Association (NOGASA), which disrupted diesel supplies to sites with the attendant telecommunications services outages in Abuja. The NCC is committed to ensuring seamless communication services for all Nigerians and recognizes the importance of reliable power supply for the provision of optimal telecommunication services,” NCC said at the weekend.

The NCC, in a statement, said it is actively engaging with relevant stakeholders to address the diesel supply issues and explore sustainable solutions. The Commission urges all parties to work together to collaboratively resolve these challenges swiftly by removing the diesel supply bottlenecks affecting critical telecommunications infrastructure, arising from NOGASA’s actions.

 “In the face of these challenges, we reiterate our commitment to fostering a conducive environment for the growth and sustainability of telecommunications services in Nigeria. We are taking proactive steps to facilitate dialogues between the impacted service providers and other stakeholders to promptly resolve the diesel supply concerns that have negatively impacted service quality.

 “The Commission remains dedicated to effectively managing the situation and will keep the public updated on progress towards restoring full telecommunication services in Abuja. We thank telecommunications subscribers for their understanding and patience during this period and reaffirm our commitment to delivering high-quality telecommunications services nationwide,” the statement said.