Susan Abayomi
Nigeria’s telecommunications sector recorded 413,587 consumer complaints during the first half of 2026, with subscribers raising concerns over network quality, data depletion, billing, failed transactions and other service-related issues.
Data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) showed that the complaints were recorded between January and June 2026 across the country’s four major mobile network operators.
Airtel recorded the highest number of complaints with 228,992, followed by MTN with 124,405, Globacom with 56,810 and T2mobile, formerly 9mobile, with 3,885 complaints.
Despite the volume of complaints, the operators reported resolving 406,938 cases, representing 98.38 per cent of the total complaints recorded during the period.
Data depletion emerged as one of the notable concerns among subscribers. MTN recorded 12,212 complaints relating to data depletion, while Airtel recorded 9,806, Globacom 1,373 and T2mobile five during the six-month period.
The complaints also covered voice and data quality, billing disputes, failed payment transactions, airtime and top-up challenges, number portability, value-added services and SIM-related issues.
The figures come amid growing dependence on mobile connectivity for banking, business, education, communication and other daily activities, making service reliability and transparency increasingly important to consumers.
On data depletion concerns, telecom operators and the regulator have previously pointed to several factors that can contribute to rapid data consumption, including high-definition video, automatic video playback, software updates, cloud backups and applications operating in the background. The NCC data records complaints raised by subscribers but does not, by itself, establish the cause of each individual case.
The issue of failed transactions has also remained a consumer concern. The NCC has said that failed airtime or data transactions can result from temporary network problems, system errors between banks and mobile networks, service outages or incorrect transaction details.
According to the NCC, its complaint-handling framework provides mechanisms for addressing consumer grievances and monitoring the responsiveness of telecommunications operators.
The Commission has continued to encourage subscribers to first report service-related complaints to their network providers and retain relevant complaint or transaction references. Where an issue is not satisfactorily resolved, consumers can escalate the matter to the NCC.
The first-half figures provide an indication of the range of challenges facing Nigerian telecom consumers as mobile services become increasingly central to economic and social activities.
While the high reported resolution rate indicates that most complaints were closed by operators, the number of complaints recorded during the period highlights the continuing importance of network quality, transparent billing, reliable transactions and effective customer service across the telecommunications sector.
