Towers - a smaller, indigenous firm - operates between 760 and 1,000 sites, although not all are currently active.
Given their market size and role in connectivity, the NCC's directive places the burden squarely on these companies to resolve issues of downtime, delayed maintenance, and poor power management that have plagued the network in recent months.

Until 2024, the NCC's Quality of Service (QoS) Regulations focused mainly on mobile network operators. However, in August 2024, the Commission revised the framework to include the entire connectivity value chain, including TowerCos. The updated regulations, which have since been gazetted, introduced new key performance indicators (KPIs) that infrastructure providers are now obligated to meet.

"It's been eleven months since those new regulations came into effect," Maida said during the meeting. "That's more than enough time for all parties to align with the performance standards expected of them."

The NCC is implementing a transparency-focused enforcement strategy, a source familiar with the matter said. As part of this approach, the Commission recently launched the Major Incident Reporting Portal, mandating all service providers to publicly disclose significant network disruptions.
The regulator is also developing a set of performance dashboards to be hosted on its website, allowing consumers to track how well tower and mobile network operators are adhering to their Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

While some tower companies have attributed their failure to meet Service Level Agreements (SLAs) to delayed payments from mobile network operators, claiming that cash flow constraints limit their ability to maintain sites or invest in backup power systems, the NCC is no longer accepting these explanations.
During the Abuja meeting, Maida made it clear that financial disputes are not a valid excuse for poor service delivery. "Operators must fulfill both their technical and financial responsibilities," he said, stressing that performance expectations remain non-negotiable regardless of internal challenges.

Source: Techcabal