Nigeria has the largest telecom market in Africa, but it also has a large share of problems, which include dropped calls, unsolicited texts and calls, and credit losses. The country’s Consumer Protection Council has now warned mobile operators that their officials may soon face criminal charges if the situation doesn’t improve, according to a report by PC World.
With this move, Nigeria joins other African countries such as Tanzania and Zambia which impose prison sentences on the officials of operators that fail to provide adequate service. Zambia’s telecom regulator has already taken Airtel, MTN and Zamtel to court for failing to meet minimum quality standards. Tanzania rules include possible fines for poor service and prison terms of at least six months for unexplained network failures.
Nigeria, a country with about 174 million people, has 140.6 million active mobile lines, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission. The country’s leading operator is MTN with a 44% market share based on number of subscribers, followed by Globacom with 21%, Airtel with 20% and Etisalat with 15%.
There has been fierce competition in the region in recent years, resulting in lower prices but also quality problems. In 2014, the NCC imposed a ban to stop operators from adding subscribers until they improved their networks.
Edith Mwale, an analyst at Africa Center for ICT Development, believes Nigeria’s action will likely influence other African countries given the size of its telecom market and its economy.
Also, the NCC recently suspended a spectrum auction  for the 2.6 GHz band which had been planned for early May. This is the second time it has been delayed. No reason was given for the suspension.
More telecom news from Europe, the Middle East and Africa:
• Bouygues Telecom is ready to roll out France’s first “Internet of Things” network using LoRa technology(PDF). The French operator is preparing a June launch for the first IoT network in the country that will be based on Long Range or LoRa technology. Bouygues has been testing the technology with several partners in the city of Grenoble since November 2013.
• Vodafone adds bank cards to its mobile wallet in Europe. After signing new agreements with Visa and Carta Worldwide, Vodafone announced that customers will soon be able to make bank card payments with their smartphones at contactless terminals in Europe starting in the second quarter of 2015. The service requires a Vodafone NFC SIM and will be supported on a range of Android smartphones.
• BT and Virgin Media warn U.K. regulator about broadband network sharing. The two companies told the U.K. regulator Ofcom that providing their competitors with more access to their business broadband networks would hurt the market, according to TechWeek Europe. Both BT and Virgin Media have business networks and BT currently allows companies such as TalkTalk and Sky some access to its network. In turn, the rival companies have complained that BT, as the dominant market leader, has an unfair advantage and they want more access to BT cables and the ability to build fiber networks of their own.
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