GSM Services Not Improved Despite NCC Promo Directive

With a subscriber base of over 100 million, mobile network operators in Nigeria depend on less than 20,000 base stations to meet the demands of their increasing customers. The implication, which telecoms operators have confirmed at several fora, is that there is capacity crunch in the telecoms industry. What this means, in telecoms parlance, is that the networks are facing challenges in meeting the data-driven consumer demands.

The Chief Executive Officer, Multilinks and CEO designate of Starcomms, Mr. Demola Elesho, in a recent interview with our correspondent, said the best of Nigerian networks lacked the capacity to offer efficient cum excellent data service.

Running promotions and lotteries on the networks, according to experts, means that the already-troubled networks will be congested. This, often, leads to subscriber complaints.

As such, the Nigerian Communications Commission on November 8, 2012, said it had been inundated with consumer complaints and thought it necessary to indefinitely ban consumer promotions and lotteries on telecommunications networks in Nigeria.

After the ban, the action received popular acclaim because the NCC said it was necessary in order to clear the congestion on the networks and enhance customer satisfaction.

While a large majority of subscribers and the general public could connect with the action five weeks ago, it is  no longer the case as an increasing number of phone users are lamenting their ordeal while also querying the wisdom in the action.

The position of these consumers and consumer rights groups is that the regulatory agency should have treated the network operators on a case-by-case basis and impose sanctions based on failure to meet minimum standards rather than deny consumers the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of the freebies offered by the telecommunications companies.

A Lagos-based lawyer and a telecoms analyst, Mr. Chukwuemeka Adigwe, said the ban on consumer promotions had not even brought about any noticeable improvement in the quality of service five weeks after.

“The ultimate loser in all of this is the consumer who has now been denied discounts and freebies attributed to his spending on the network,” he said.

Speaking in the same vein, the Chief Executive Officer, RoyalePrestige Properties, Mr. Seun Akinyele, said banning the promos had had little or no effect on network quality based on recent experience of the consumers vis-a-vis telephone service.

The thrust of their argument is that the blanket ban on promos was unfair as the NCC had just conducted quality of service check on the operators in line with its mandate, which empowers the regulatory agency to ensure that the licensees meet required standards from time-to-time.

Adigwe recalled that between July and September this year, which falls within the period, the consumer promotions were heavy on the various networks. The NCC had conducted what it called a Nationwide Benchmark Drive Test on MTN, Globacom, Airtel and Etisalat network.

It was the first  of such tests and it concentrated on Call Completion Rate, which encompasses the major network Key Performance Indicators (call drop and congestion), he observed.

The service providers were ranked in Lagos and six Geo-Political zones of South-West, South-East, South-South, North-Central, North-East and North-West.

According to the NCC report, Airtel, which was ranked as the best operator for good quality of service based on the NCC’s Audit Report for March and April, 2012, again scored quite high in the Benchmark Drive Test.

The network, which has experienced several ownership and brand name changes in its over 11 years of operation in the Nigerian market, finished top in three regions – South-South, South-West and North-East. It also came second in the other regions, namely Lagos, North-Central, North-West and South-East.

Specifically, NCC records revealed that Airtel recorded 88 per cent each in the South-South and South-West regions, and 78 per cent in the North-East where it came ahead of the field.

In the other regions where it finished a close second, Airtel  got 88 per cent in Lagos, 92 per cent in North-Central, 82 per cent in North-West, and 75 per cent in South-East.

For Etisalat, the fifth GSM operator which started commercial service only four years ago, the performance in the Benchmark Drive Test was also remarkable. Etisalat was rated best telecommunications service provider for good quality of service by the NCC based on the Quality of Service Key Performance Indicator audit report released in February 2012.

 In the Benchmark Drive Test conducted a few months later, Etisalat polled behind Airtel in South-South having recorded 86 per cent, South-West (82 per cent) and North-East (67 per cent).

Etisalat, however, recorded first position in the other regions – North-Central (94 per cent), Lagos (92 per cent), North-West (90 per cent) and South-East (85 per cent) – with Airtel coming second in each of these areas.

The NCC revealed that MTN finished third in North-Central with 74 per cent, South-South with 71 per cent, and North-East with 58 per cent. It was fourth in the other zones such as Lagos with 72 per cent, South-West with 72 per cent, North-West with 59 per cent, and South-East with 53 per cent.

The report showed that Glo came third in Lagos with 88 per cent, South-West with 79 per cent, North-West with 78 per cent and South-East with 59 per cent. It rated fourth in North-Central with 78 per cent, South-South with 78 per cent and North-East with 53 per cent.

Based on the drive test, the North-Central zone produced the highest rating for all the operators, except Glo. In this region, Etisalat recorded 94 per cent, while Airtel followed closely with 92 per cent. MTN scored 84 per cent and Glo had 78 per cent. Lagos followed in ranking with Etisalat leading with 92 per cent, Airtel 88 per cent, Glo 86 per cent and MTN 82 per cent.

In the North-West, Etisalat clinched 90 per cent, Airtel 82 per cent, Glo 88 per cent and MTN 60 per cent.

The report showed that Airtel led in the South-South, recording 88 per cent. The rest were Etisalat 86 per cent, MTN 71 per cent and Glo 78 per cent.

Airtel also led in the South-West with 88 per cent, followed by Etisalat which had 81 per cent, while Glo scored 79 per cent and MTN 72 per cent.

Airtel also led the way in the North-East with 78 per cent followed by Etisalat at 67 per cent, while MTN had 58 per cent and Glo 53 per cent.

The South-East produced the poorest result with Etisalat leading with 85 per cent. It was followed by Airtel at 75 per cent. Glo recorded nearly 60 per cent, while MTN scored 53 per cent.

Generally, Etisalat was rated as the best service provider in Lagos,South-East, North-Central and North-West. It came second in the South-West, South-South and North-East. Airtel was the best operator in three regions – South-West, South-South and North-East. It came second in Lagos, South-East, North-Central and North-West.

MTN finished third in South-South, North-Central and North-East; and fourth in the other zones such as Lagos, South-West, South-East and North-West.

Speaking against this background, a consumer rights activist based in Lagos, Mr. Moses Adigun, said NCC should have based its decision to apply the hammer on consumer promotions on its own findings.

“What is the purpose of conducting a test for the whole class if all the students would be denied promotion to the next class in the end?,” he asked.

“The outcome of the survey did not seem to have influenced the decision of the NCC in deciding on a blanket ban on promotions and lotteries, which affected all operators, irrespective of their performance as discovered by NCC itself,” Adigun added.

A number of subscribers said the NCC should have taken the pains to sanction only those telcos that had demonstrated lack of capacity to handle the increased traffic on their platforms as a result of the consumer promotions.

Similarly, the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria, said the issue of network congestion could not be blamed on consumer promotions and lotteries. ALTON Chairman, Mr. Gbenga Adebayo, recently said that the major causes of poor service quality across networks could be attributed to natural and man-made disasters.

He explained that the natural disaster of flooding in some southern parts of the country and the spontaneous attacks on telecoms facilities in some northern parts of the country by gunmen had contributed largely to service disruption.

He said, “The impacts of the attacks had since limited the ability of millions of Nigerian subscribers to access telecommunications services, because the incidents affected over 250 telecoms sites that lost connection and many suffered significant damage beyond repairs.”

The ALTON chairman noted that the unprecedented flooding in some parts of the country destroyed Base Transceiver Stations along its path, leading to significant service disruption in the affected areas, with consequential impact on service availability in some other parts that were not affected by the flood.

“Other than disruption to services, our members have lost equipment worth several billions of naira to the flood disaster across the country, as additional 300 BTS sites were affected,” he said.

In its statement on November 8, NCC had said that the ban on consumer promotions and lotteries on the networks would be in force “until such a time as may be determined by the commission.”

 The regulatory agency said that the affected telecoms operators included Globacom Limited, MTN, Intercellular Nigeria Plc, Visafone Communications Limited, Etisalat, Airtel and Multilinks Telecoms Limited.