The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has announced that approximately 15 states have waived Right of Way (RoW) fees across the country, a move expected to enhance telecommunications infrastructure and services. The announcement was made in Lagos by the NCC Executive Vice Chairman, Dr Aminu Maida, during a media interaction with journalists. He also declared that Nigeria has officially entered the era of subscriber compensation, aiming to make telecom operators more accountable and transparent in their dealings with consumers.
Compensation Details
Dr Maida explained that the compensation initiative would be implemented through airtime refunds. NCC’s Director of Technical Services, Edoyemi Ogor, provided further details, stating that affected subscribers will begin receiving SMS alerts from tomorrow, outlining the process for applying the refunded airtime. The compensation amount will be commensurate with the affected amount and the duration of service disruption.
Impact of RoW Fee Waiver
Ogor noted that the removal of RoW levies would improve telephone services in the benefiting states. He urged other states to expedite approval for site acquisitions to accelerate network expansion. The NCC highlighted that states with zero RoW fees are experiencing faster deployment of fibre-optic networks. Kaduna and Niger have emerged among the top states for total fibre deployment distance, leveraging these pro-investment policies to reach underserved rural areas.
Investment and Network Upgrades
Dr Maida revealed that, through regulatory interventions, one operator has commenced deploying an additional $1 billion to upgrade and expand services, supplementing the combined $1 billion deployed last year. He disclosed that 12,000 site upgrades are planned for 2026, with 2,800 already completed, covering 63 new areas.
FCCPC Approves Airtime Lenders
In a related development, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has approved five companies as airtime and data lenders. This follows new regulations that forced all Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to suspend services. The approved firms include Total Tim Nigeria Limited, Rane Interactive Media CLS Limited, Mode NG Applications Limited, Cloud Interactive Associate Limited, and Coverage Broadband Limited. According to the FCCPC, these companies have met all requirements stipulated in the Digital, Electronic, Online, or Non-Traditional Consumer Lending Regulations, 2025.
While telecom operators cited compliance issues with the new consumer lending regulations as the reason for suspending services, the FCCPC stated that the primary aim of the regulation is to promote a fairer and more transparent system in digital lending. MTN and Airtel have officially announced the suspension of their services since last week. FCCPC Director of Corporate Affairs, Ondaje Ijagwu, said some telecom operators were found to be engaging in exclusionary third-party technical arrangements in clear disobedience to the provisions of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act, 2018.
