Why telecom services are poor

Subscribers are at the mercy of the operators, writes Sonny Aragba-Akpore

For inexplicable reasons most of last week, especially days preceding the #End Bad Governance in Nigeria protests, telecommunications services which were already in very poor state got worse.

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Download speeds including those on WhatsApp and Facebook were nightmarish as internet speeds went below acceptable average of 27.62 megabyte per second (mbps) according to World Wide Broadband Speed Report published in July 2024.

There were insinuations that government may have given a marching order to Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to reduce the speed of the internet on their networks in order to forestall and frustrate the use of the internet by would be protesters.

Subscribers were affected by the alleged imposed restrictions that cut across all networks thus creating a backlash in that regard.

The speed became even slower during the first three days of the protests and strangely not a logical explanation for this coincidence except for a drab TV appearance by Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy Minister, Bosun Tijani where he said,

“There’s no instruction to tamper with (phone) networks.”

Nigerians on MTN, Airtel, GloMobile ,9mobile and other networks have raised concerns on social media about unusually slow browsing speeds.

These complaints have led to suspicions that someone within government may have ordered the telecom companies to disrupt the protests digitally.

But in reality these are mere speculations as government has denied such insinuations describing them as misplaced.

But while the government is on a denial spree, Nigerians were jolted a few days earlier when nearly 20 million subscribers had their lines disabled and disconnected from various networks on the excuse that they were unable to link their National Identification Number (NIN) to their Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) card since the deadline of April 15,2024 but extended to July 31,2024.

But the industry regulator sensing the possible negative reactions from the affected subscribers who besieged operators facilities nationwide where vandalism began and to forestall any industry backlash, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) ordered telecommunications companies (telcos) to reconnect the affected subscribers with immediate effect.

While reprieve came the way of these beleaguered subscribers, they woke up a day after to the general lull in data services thus creating the suspicion that government may have ordered operators to reduce speed of the internet as part of measures to frustrate the planned protests.

The unusually slow internet speeds experienced by subscribers in the last few days maybe traced to the declining network services as a result of decaying infrastructure, lack of access to foreign direct investments, poor returns on investments, vandalism and losses sustained by operators as a result of the economic climate.

Although, not much information appeared on public space on the subject of SIM deactivation as a result of not being linked to the NIN, the NCC had in March 2024 provided Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) an extension till July 31,2024, to verify all Identity Numbers (NIN) submitted by subscribers with four or fewer SIMs, as well as bar those whose NINs fail verification with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).

The compulsory linkage began in 2020 when the government directed telecommunication companies to block calls from unregistered and unlinked lines.

The policy was expected to help the authorities in fighting bandits and terrorists who kidnap and kill innocent people daily. Despite the extension of deadlines, many phone lines are yet to be linked.

While not linking network outages to this, it is important to state that causes of network outages include but not limited to software and hardware Issues, human error and , electrical issues, among others.

Apart from these, network traffic congestion include but not limited to physical damage issues like weather and design issues ,cable cuts, among others.

In reality, these companies are believed to be handicapped as a result of crippling inflation and currency volatility, which defied all the policies implemented in the last one year thus creating a challenging macroeconomic environment for some of Nigeria’s biggest businesses.

Only recently,9mobile which was terminally ill got a fresh lease from L.H Telecommunications Limited when 95.5% of it’s shares were acquired. Subscribers connected to 9mobile before now were already porting (migrating) to other manageable networks in large numbers as a result of very poor services provided by the company. It has been debt-laden to a consortium of banks and several equipment vendors, tower owners who could no longer offer life line to this company that had gone through a transition from Etisalat to 9mobile as midwifed by the Central Bank(CBN) and the NCC to stave off its near comatose profile.

With new shareholders including Thomas Etuh, Mrs.Daisy Danjuma, her daughter, Gloria Danjuma, former MTN Chief Executive, Mike Ikpoki among others, and the heavy capital injection into the operation,9mobile may be on the rise again.

In a statement, the company said that this acquisition followed the approvals of the NCC and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) as required by law. The investment, which was approved by African Export Import Bank (AFREXIM), the senior lender to 9Mobile in May 2023, has resulted in a change in control of 9Mobile in favour of the new investor by the issuance of new shares amounting to 95.5 per cent to the new investor in consideration for the injection of fresh capital into the company.

Airtel Africa Plc, announced 9.5% Revenue growth in Q1 2024 from $1,257m to $1,377 and reported a loss before tax at $221m while loss after tax stood at $151m

In its half year report for 2024, Airtel revenue grew by 2.3% from US$2.57bn to US$2.62bn.Profit before tax stood at US$12m while loss after tax stood at US$13m

MTN Nigeria, which is believed to be the country’s largest telecommunications firm and historically a guaranteed profit maker, reported a loss after tax of ₦519 billion for the first half of 2024. It’s a massive jump from the ₦85 billion it lost in H1 2023.

Most of those losses are linked to the company’s United States Dollar obligations, such as leases priced in dollars and financing costs. The devaluation of the naira and currency volatility in the half year ending June 2024 have significantly increased those costs.

“Overall, these headwinds put pressure on consumers and the cost of doing business in the country,”

CEO Karl Toriola was quoted as saying in the results .. “These include, for MTN Nigeria, additional forex losses, leading to pressure on our period-end negative capital position.”

To mitigate these foreign exchange exposures, MTN reduced its outstanding letters of credit in dollars to $100 million by June 2024. It is also renegotiating lease agreements with IHS Towers.

While not holding briefs for network providers, these are their claims in public space that could be interrogated and verified accordingly.

Other operators whose records are not readily available are also plagued by similar problems in so far as they operate within the same economy and affected by the same indicators.

In all, the subscribers are no longer preeminent as they are left to the devices of the operators.