Updates On NCC's Recent Activities And Other Developments In The Nigerian Telecommunications Industry

1. The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has issued a Directive mandating telecom licensees to promptly inform consumers of major network outages through media channels, detailing the cause, affected areas, and estimated restoration time, with planned outages requiring one week's prior notice. The Directive also requires Mobile Network Operators, Internet Service Providers, and last-mile service providers to report all major outages via the NCC's publicly accessible Major Outage Reporting Portal and to provide proportional consumer compensation where outages exceed 24 hours, in line with the Consumer Code of Practice Regulations. This initiative is aimed at improving service quality, enhancing transparency and accountability, ensuring timely outage resolution, and supporting the protection of telecommunications infrastructure designated as Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII). See the link to the update here: https://www.ncc.gov.ng/media-centre/press-releases/ncc-mandates-service-providers-inform-consumers-about-major-outages
2. The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), pursuant to its powers under the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003, has directed all its licensees to regularize any unapproved change exceeding 10% in their shareholding structure within 45 days of the publication of this notice on its website. The Commission has granted a 45-day grace period during which no sanctions will apply for past infractions relating to such changes. However, appropriate enforcement actions will be imposed in line with the Nigerian Communications (Enforcement Processes, etc.) Regulations, 2019 upon expiration of the grace period. This directive is issued in accordance with Regulations 41, 42, and 43 of the Licensing Regulations, 2019. See the link to the public notice here: https://www.ncc.gov.ng/media-center/public-notices/public-notice-licensees-have-effected-changes-more-ten-percent-10-their
3. The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), pursuant to its powers under the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003, has published two draft regulatory instruments on its website: the Draft 'Spectrum Roadmap for the Communications Sector' (2025–2030) and the Draft 'Guidelines for the Use of the 60 GHz License-Exempt Band for Multi-Gigabit Wireless Systems'. In line with section 58 of the Act, the Commission invites stakeholders to review the drafts and submit comments, with all submissions required to be received no later than Friday, January 16, 2026, via the designated NCC email addresses. See the link to the update here: https://www.ncc.gov.ng/media-center/public-notices/ncc-unveils-draft-5-years-spectrum-roadmap-and-draft-guidelines-use-60
4. The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has notified all stakeholders, service providers, businesses, and the general public that the acquisition, installation, and operation of signal boosters without prior authorisation from the Commission is strictly prohibited under sections 131 and 133 of the Nigerian Communications Act, 2003, and Regulation 4(1)(a) and (b) of the Nigerian Communications (Type Approval) Regulations, 2024. The Commission has directed strict compliance with these provisions, warning that non-compliance will attract regulatory sanctions and possible prosecution. Find the link to the public notice here: https://www.ncc.gov.ng/media-center/public-notices/unauthorized-acquisition-and-use-signal-boosters-prohibited
5. The Nigerian Communications Commission (the Commission) has been given powers under the Nigerian Communications Act 2003 (the Act) to grant approvals for applications made under any circumstance to disconnect a licensee and to publish guidelines on any matter for the due administration of the provisions of the Act. These Guidelines are developed to ensure that the procedure for granting approval by the Commission for the disconnection of a licensee is founded on a predetermined framework to engender transparency, certainty and fairness. These Guidelines apply to network interconnection by Network Service Providers (NSPs) as stated in section 100 of the Act. See the link to the guidelines here https://www.ncc.gov.ng/guidelines.

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