Telcos battle congestion, suspend porting, seek spectrum sharing

Despite poor services, telcos earn N2.78tr from airtime sales, others

Telecommunication operators are struggling to keep up with the rise in voice and data traffic that has led to congestion on all the networks.

Some of the operators who spoke on the matter said the congestion was caused by the remote work by many Nigerian companies and lockdown in states with high incidents of COVID-19.

They are seeking a directive form the Nigerian Communications Commission that would allow network operators to share spectrum to ease the congestion.

Gbolahan Awonuga, the head of operations, Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria, explained that before the lockdown started, the operators had requested for some palliatives from the NCC to ensure the smooth delivery of communication services.

He identified spectrum sharing, right of passage and relaxation of quality of service metrics and Know Your Customers as some of their demands.

Awonuga said, “There is congestion on all the networks. Everyone is at home; so the traffic is high. We have asked for some palliatives from the Nigerian Communications Commission and we are hoping something will be done.

“We want the sharing of spectrum and relaxation of quality of service and Know Your Customer. Porting has been suspended because no operators can cope with porting right now.”

Awonuga called on the government to fast-track the declaration of telecommunication infrastructure as Critical National Infrastructure.

He said fibre cuts had reduced in the country due to reduced construction but that there had been reports of battery theft in certain areas.

Olusola Teniola, the president, Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria, affirmed that operators were under immense pressure to reduce downtime on their networks.

Teniola said, “The traffic coming from homes due to the stay-at-home directive meant that there is a lot of pressure on the network because of the change in pattern and behaviour of consumers, which would normally during the day be in their offices.”

He appealed to the government to provide temporary spectrum to operators for a period of three months.

Teniola said, “We want the government to seriously consider offering all operators who need additional spectrum to be given temporary spectrum for three months.

“Once we have that, we will be able to configure the base stations and our equipment to take onboard the additional capacity the spectrum allows.”

He appealed to the government to remove the bureaucracy surrounding site acquisition, especially in the Federal Capital Territory.