Telecom
The Many Woes of Customer Service Delivery in Telecom
It is a popular saying that a customer in every service driven business such as telecom is king and therefore should be treated as such. The subscriber in the business of telecommunications is the reason for the business because, if services are provided and nobody subscribe to it, there is no business, as the provider of such service will not have returns to sustain such service. More so, the business of telecom is driven by the number of subscribers to the services being rendered by the operators, this accounts for the intensity of promotions that operators run, which are geared towards retaining loyalty of their subscriber as well woo new ones to the network.
Consumers of Telecommunications products and services in Nigeria today are varied and their tastes, needs and expectations are also varied. They number over 70 million today and are spread across the vast geographical area of the country, and have become more aware of the usefulness and potentials of ICT products and services.
There are corporate, communal, institutional, individual and many other categories of users of telecom and ICT products and services. Conceptually, the consumer includes the high political office holders, the movers and shakers of the society, the youths, the entrepreneur, the artisans, the military rank and file, the fishermen in the Delta, the Fulani pastoralists on Gembu hills, and the rural women who sell crayfish at Zonkwa market, among others.
Today, Consumers of telecoms services in Nigeria are no longer the few who were endowed with the economic power to own a phone in those days when only very few Nigerians could afford the few lines that were available. The reasons of inability to own a phone is no longer much about inability to afford a phone because of very high cost or that locations of business or residence are not covered by any telephone network as, apart from very remote areas, most urban and semi-urban parts of the country is covered today.
Some people have said those who could afford phone services in the era being referred above, were victims, rather than being described as the privileged few when compared with the present day consumers of telecommunications services.
To all intents and purposes, it is easy to agree with this assertion because deregulation of the telecoms industry, with the attendant availability of many networks, providing multifarious products and services, covering far more geographical areas, with millions of Nigerians privileged to own phones services at far lower costs, supports that position. The fact that Nigerians can also sit down today to discuss the place of the consumer in the national telecom equation, provides an insight into the elevated position of the Nigerian telecoms consumer in the scheme of things.
The consumers of telecom products and services, as have indicated, have many desires expected to be met. He wants services available at all times and at every place. The consumer wants the services to be of a good quality and affordable. The consumer wants the operator to respond at all times when he or she needs attention, and to provide explanations whenever anything goes wrong. The consumer wants to be protected at all times from being taken advantage of by service providers. Just like consumers of any services, the consumer of telecom services wants to be well treated.
The important aspect of all these rest on how prepared the staff of network operators saddle to take care of these customers as well as the extent to which customers are being cared for.
The telecom industry no longer talks only about customer service — instead, it is addressing the broader topic of the customer experience, which includes not just the conversations between customer service representatives and customers when something goes wrong, but the full range of customer contact from when a service is ordered to when it is delivered.
Service providers of all types are investing heavily in this customer experience. A recent survey, conducted by Frost & Sullivan and commissioned by Amdocs, found that two-thirds of service providers responding expected to increase their spending on customer service enhancements next year.
And increased investment is what will be required, for many reasons. Chief among them is the reality that, as service providers tries to offer more services and more complex services, like they are doing today, customer service requirements increase exponentially. It is easier for customers to get confused, there are more things that can break and it is harder for customers to decipher competitive offers and determine what they want.
Telecommunications operators have two basic ways to attend to subscribers’ complaint on its network. They establish customer care shops, which are centre designated for solving subscribers complaint that require them to bring either their phone or computer as the case may be in internet service physically to the shop for the problem to be resolved. Products of such network operator are also sold at customer care centres. Another way through which complaints of subscribers are addressed by operators is through customer service contact centres. A customer service contact centre, is a department in the operations of the network that addresses complaints through voice or email to a toll free line of the network.
Challenges in addressing Complaints
Having a functional customer care shops and contact centre are one leg of effort by operators to take care of their subscribers, while training and monitoring of those working in these departments are another leg which to many is the most important is customer service delivery.
A visit to some telecommunications operators’ customer care shops will explain the need for those working at such centres who act as interface between the company and their subscribers to be well trained both in understanding of the services being rendered by the operating company as well as manner of treating customers. Some of the ‘so called’ trained staff at most customer care centres of greater percentage of operators lack the required technical knowledge of some products at offer to talk of solving some problems that are brought to them. This writer had issues with his data service of one of the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) operators, he called the customer service centre and the attendant that spoke to him after holding him on for 25 minutes could not resolve the issue but directed him to any customer care centre around his area. When I got to the customer care shop, behold the issue was resolved through recharging the phone with any amount of airtime above N100.
Deolu Ogunbanjo, president, National Association Telecommunications Subscriber of Nigeria (Natcomms) narrated how he was unruly treated at customer care shop of a telecommunications operator, when he went for a welcome back pack at the shop. He was meant to stay two and half hours at the shop because he vehemently condemned the way the attendant treated another customer at the shop. These are few instances of pains that subscribers are meant to go through in the hands of unqualified customer care attendants at customer service centres of telecommunications operators.
In some situations, subscribers have been asked to take their complaints to another customer care shop where more experience people will address their problems, this goes to show that those working in the shop lack the prerequisite knowledge to support services.
Although, there are situations where customers exhibit unwholesome behavour at either customer care shop or when talking to customer service attendant at contact centres, but, during training these staff attendants, they are taught the best way to handle such situation in order not to create bad impression about the network.
Customer service contact centre operators have severally decried the high number of hoax calls- where subscribers call the centre only to start asking the female attendant for an outing appointment.
Some call the contact centres only to listen to the ring back music and the company’s advert jingles, and when attendants pick the call to inquire what the issues are such caller will quarry with the attendant on why he or she stop the music that he is enjoying.
It is against these backdrops that operators introduce Interactive Voice Response (IVR). This is interaction between a human and a computer in which the human caller inputs commands and requests to the computer, which responds in either pre-recorded or synthesized speech form. The human input can be the form of spoken words or as tones sent via the telephone keypad. If the input is speech, IVR is much like having a frustrating conversation with a dimwitted and highly inflexible human call center agent. In a database access application, a voice processing system with IVR capability is positioned as a front end to a general-purpose computer and multiple databases. Through speech recognition technology, and text-to-speech (TTS) capability, and perhaps voice print matching for security, a complete transaction can be accomplished on a voice basis without human involvement and except for the caller, of course. Reservations centers and financial institutions make heavy use of such capabilities in support of routine transactions, thereby reducing staffing levels and providing customer service on a 24 hour basis.
Even as operators have started outsourcing customer care job to others companies believed to be suited for it, as well as reducing ever growing cost, there is need for effectively monitoring especially those that physically interface with subscribers and also equip them with the relevant technical training to support the company’s services and products.
Telecom
Digital Encode Sponsors PAFON 3.0 as CVO Prof. Adewale Set to Deliver Keynote on Cybersecurity and Trust
Digital Encode Limited has emerged the lead sponsor of the upcoming third edition of the forum (PAFON 3.0), the organisers have announced.
PAFON 3.0
PAFON 3.0 is scheduled to take place on Friday, April 24, 2026, at the Oriental Hotel, Lekki Road, Lagos, from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM.
Themed “Fair Digital Payments as a Catalyst for Deepening Financial Inclusion in Nigeria,” PAFON 3.0 serves as a strategic platform for senior executives from banks, fintechs, regulatory agencies, and technology innovators to address the evolving digital payment landscape.
As Nigeria transitions toward a cash-light economy, the forum will focus on critical pillars of sustainability, including transparency, pricing integrity, and system resilience.
Bridging Cybersecurity and Financial Inclusion
Professor Adewale Peter Obadare, the Founder/chief visionary officer of Digital Encode will deliver a cybersecurity-focused keynote address that connects trust, resilience, fraud prevention, and consumer protection to financial inclusion.
His session will provide a specialized perspective on how information security serves as the bedrock of financial inclusion; exploring the vital links between building infrastructure that consumers can rely on, protecting the ecosystem to allow inclusion to scale, and ensuring equitable and secure access for all Nigerians.
Prof. Obadare is arguably the most Credentialed PAN-African Digital Trust Leader, CyberSecurity Strategist, GRC Thought Leader & Global Technopreneur.
He is a seasoned Multi-Award Cybersecurity & GRC expert with over 58 (Fifty-Eight) international professional certifications to his credit, Master of Science in Cybersecurity, Liverpool Unversity, UK, was awarded Honorarary Doctorate Degree in Cybersecurity from Trinity International University of Ambassadors Atlanta Georgia, United State of America and First Professor of Practice – Cybersecurity at Miva Open University, Abuja, Nigeria.
Prof. Obadare is a well-recognized subject matter expert with numerous successful engagements to his credit in Africa and the world. His skills and experience spans Data Privacy, Data Protection, CyberSecurity, Information Security, Vulnerability Management, Penetration Testing, Computer Forensics, Business Continuity, I T Governance, Risk Management and Compliance.
He is a Cybersecurity Advisory Board Member for Lagos State Government, a Platinum Team Member of Open-Source Security Testing Methodology Manual (OSSTMM), as well as a lifetime member of the Open Worldwide Application Security Project (OWASP). He is an alumnus of FATE Foundation and US Department of State Exchange program.
He is also a distinguished alumnus of executive education at Harvard Business School, Harvard School of Government, MIT Sloan School of Management, MIT Professional Education and Oxford University – Said Business School.
“Without trust in the security of digital payments, inclusion cannot scale. And we are happy to welcome Digital Encode as our Lead Sponsor this year. With what the company stands for and the personality of the CVO on a global scale, we have no doubt that attendees at this year’s PAFON will go home with lots of insights.”
“The theme for PAFON 3.0 was carefully selected because if digital payments are affordable, transparent, accessible, and trustworthy, more Nigerians, especially the underserved, will participate in the financial system”, Mr. Chike Onwuegbuchi, the co-convener of Payments Forum Nigeria, noted, highlighting Digital Encode distinguished leadership in Nigeria’s cybersecurity ecosystem.
Other Confirmed speakers: Dr. Jameelah Sharrieff-Ayedun, Vice President, Fintech Association of Nigeria (FintechNGR) & CEO, Credit Registry; Uche Uzoebo, MD/CEO, Shared Agent Network Expansion Facilities (SANEF Limited): Special Guest of Honour; Mojeed Abayomi Agboola, National President, Financial Inclusion Agents Multipurpose Cooperative Society (FIAMCS); Dr. Obioha Otti, National President, Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria (AMMBAN); Chukwuemeka Enoch, Founder, Lagos Blockchain Week, and Sarafadeen Fasasi, National President, Association of Financial Inclusion Agents of Nigeria (AFiAN), amongst others.
The forum will feature speakers from across the financial spectrum, including mobile money operators, payment processors, and development institutions, to shape policy dialogue and industry standards.
PAFON is a premier industry gathering that aligns brand positioning with trust and innovation in Nigeria’s digital payments ecosystem. It provides a unique space for thought leadership, regulatory engagement, and market expansion within the payment infrastructure sector.
The era of treating cybersecurity as a mere IT problem is over. As AI-powered digital threats become more elusive and destructive, Nigeria is shifting its strategy toward “Total Resilience”—a multi-dimensional defense involving every level of society.
NITDA
At the 2026 GITEX Africa summit, NITDA DG, Kashifu Inuwa sounded the alarm on the changing nature of digital warfare, asserting that technology alone is no longer enough. Instead, Nigeria’s survival in the digital age now hinges on a strategic blend of policy, people, and proactive defense.
Speaking during a panel session on Cyber Resilience, Inuwa described the current global digital environment as being at a “critical turning point.”
He warned that emerging technologies are not only transforming industries and economies but are also reshaping the nature of cyber threats, demanding a proactive and multi-dimensional response from governments, institutions, and citizens alike.
“Cybersecurity is no longer just a technical issue. It is a strategic imperative for national development,” Inuwa stated. “We must think beyond technology alone and build resilience through people, processes, regulations, and infrastructure.”
Inuwa revealed that the focus of Nigeria’s cyber strategy is shifting from high-tech software to the people behind the screens. Pointing to data showing that 95% of all digital breaches stem from simple human mistakes, Inuwa argued that the world’s most advanced encryption is useless if the user is compromised.
“The most sophisticated technology cannot protect us if the human element is overlooked,” he noted. By prioritising human capacity and digital literacy, NITDA aims to turn every citizen into a “human firewall”, the first and most critical line of defense in a world where AI-driven attacks are the new normal.
In response, the Nigerian government has launched a comprehensive National Digital Literacy Programme aimed at achieving 95 percent digital literacy by 2030, with an interim target of 70 percent by 2027.
The programme emphasizes digital safety and cybersecurity awareness, equipping citizens with the knowledge to navigate an increasingly online world responsibly.
Inuwa highlighted initiatives such as the “3 Million Tech Talent” programme, designed to develop Nigerian expertise across key technology domains, including cybersecurity, data science, and AI.
The programme also leverages hackathons, innovation challenges, and mentorship schemes to channel young people’s skills into productive, lawful, and globally competitive ventures.
He argued that nurturing local talent is essential not just for national security but also for economic growth. “We want to create an environment where young Nigerians are innovators, not just consumers of technology,” he said.
Addressing concerns about Nigeria’s ranking in global cybercrime indices, Inuwa urged contextual understanding. “Countries with the most advanced digital economies also rank high in cybercrime because of the scale of their online activity,” he explained.
“Our focus is on redirecting talent towards innovation and solutions that protect our citizens while contributing to global digital advancement.”
On the legal and regulatory front, Nigeria continues to review and enhance the Cybercrime Act of 2015 to keep pace with the rapidly evolving threat landscape. The law underpins a structured National Cybersecurity Architecture coordinated by the Office of the National Security Adviser.
In addition, the country operates a 24-hour cybersecurity operations centre tasked with monitoring threats, issuing advisories, and providing real-time support to government institutions, businesses, and citizens. Advanced technologies, including dark web monitoring and AI-enabled threat detection, are being deployed to enhance situational awareness and improve response times.
Inuwa emphasized that effective cyber resilience requires collaboration between public and private sectors. NITDA is working closely with ministries, departments, agencies, and private sector stakeholders to secure critical infrastructure and strengthen national resilience.
“Cyber resilience is not a solo effort; it is a collective responsibility. By integrating people, technology, and regulation, we can build a secure, globally competitive digital economy,” he added.
As Nigeria navigates a digital-first future, initiatives such as the National Digital Literacy Programme, 3 Million Tech Talent, and strengthened legal frameworks underscore a commitment to turning cybersecurity challenges into opportunities for innovation and growth.
The country’s strategy reflects a broader understanding that in an era of AI-driven threats, preparedness is as much about people and processes as it is about technology.
Truecaller, the leading global communications platform, today announced the expansion of its Business Chat platform, making it accessible to global channel partners and enterprise solution providers. By “opening up” market access to its platform, Truecaller is empowering partners to transition their enterprise clients from legacy, low-trust SMS to a verified, smart, media-rich, and conversational communication experience.
Truecaller
Through this partner-led expansion, Truecaller empowers businesses to reclaim customer attention and establish immediate trust and credibility.
“The definition of success for modern enterprises has fundamentally evolved. It’s no longer just about delivery – it’s about earning attention, establishing credibility, and driving meaningful conversion,” said Priyam Bose, Global Head, GTM at Truecaller.
“By opening up market access to our global partners, we’ve created a powerful gateway for brands to engage with over 500 million active users where they already interact daily through communication that is contextual, trusted, free from clutter, and designed to initiate actions. For existing customers, the outreach opportunity extends to an additional high-impact channel, strengthening the overall customer experience journey.”
Truecaller Business Chat enables a clutter-free, high-trust conversational experience between businesses and consumers. The Business Chat platform equips partners with actionable insights, including real-time data and rich engagement metrics. This facilitates a more sophisticated, data-driven communication strategy that adapts at every stage of the customer journey.
Partners, including Gupshup and OneXtel, are already live in India along with Globe Teleservices, Cloudcom, and Sling Africa in other global markets, rapidly scaling the product in their respective regions. Global partners can now leverage Truecaller’s massive footprint to offer their clients a trustworthy engagement channel in an increasingly crowded digital world.
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