The House of Representatives have given top executives of MTN, Airtel, Glo and Mafab an October 28 appointment to explain poor network quality across the country at a committee hearing.
The directive issued last week by the House Ad-Hoc Committee on Telecommunications network comes amid displeasure over the operators’ failure to attend a previously scheduled hearing. Consequently, they stated that executives who fail to honour the invitation could face possible arrest summons to compel their attendance.
The committee added that the operators should submit all relevant documents on or before the scheduled date.
Committee Chairman, Rep. Olumide Osoba explained that reliable telecommunication services had become essential to Nigeria’s economy. He argued that good network services extend beyond calls and internet access to also include commercial activities like Point of Sale (POS) transactions.
The lawmaker stressed that businesses, financial transactions and other services depend on reliable telecommunications networks. As a result, this makes continued disruptions an issue of national concern.
Notably, the planned hearing comes amid subscribers’ continued struggle with unreliable calls and internet services despite recently increased charges.
According to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the network disruptions may be linked to several issues. Its report specified that network operators experienced 44,678 fibre-optic cable cuts between January and September 2026. It also blamed cable degradation, vandalism, connection problems, and equipment thefts as other notable issues.
An additional report from The Guardian uncovered that telecom operators and tower companies invested N2.53 trillion in infrastructure in 2025. They have also reportedly earmarked additional N1.86 trillion for 2026.
Despite this, they recorded over 413,500 consumer complaints in H1 2026. These include 228,92 complaints against Airtel and 124,405 against MTN, while Glo recorded only 56,810 complaints.
Earlier this year, the NCC launched an airtime compensation system to reward subscribers affected by poor service. However, subscribers have complained that the compensation may be insufficient to reward them for the disruptions.
Nevertheless, the October 28 hearing is expected to shed light on ongoing issues and operators’ efforts to improve service.
