Telecom

Poor QoS Persists 19 Years after GSM Revolution

Published

5 years ago

August 1, 2020

Kindly share this post

^{It will be 19 years this August since the introduction of the Digital Mobile Communications services popularly referred to as GSM in Nigeria.}

Poor QoS Persists 19 Years after GSM Revolution

^{The acceptance and growth rate among the Nigerian populace has had serious and great latent of enhancing the communication.}

^{Today, GSM phones beep in almost every palm, pocket, handbags, offices, parties, school hostels, beer parlors, every nook and cranny of the country.}

^{Aside the availability of telephony, the revolution also ended the monopoly enjoyed by Nitel and introduced competition by the various operators.}

^{Quality of service has not however kept pace with the burgeoning development in the telecom industry. It is much worse now than seven years ago when the revolution began.}

^{There are still complaints of bills for undelivered messages, charge for dropped calls , which increase the revenues operators but leave deep holes in the pockets of subscribers}

^{Equally, they complained that Internet service remained a challenge, just as much as uploading and downloading.}

^{As a matter of fact, all the telecom operators exhibit grave deficiencies in their service delivery from small to dominant operators.}

^{Deolu Ogunbanjo, president, National Association Telecommunications Subscribers of Nigeria (NATCOMMS), blamed poor quality of service on inadequate base stations in the country.}

^{Ogunbanjo said that United Kingdom with population less than Nigeria has over 60, 000 base stations while base stations in Nigeria is still under 30,000.}

^{He added that issues around ‘Right of Way’ approvals and closure of base stations by state government agencies have also impacted negatively on the quality of service being delivered by telecommunications operators.}

^{“There is need for more stakeholders’ engagement between Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), telecommunications operators and state governments to resolve socio-economic factors that are frustrating operators in deploying infrastructure for improved quality of service.}

^{“Operators need to build more base stations to improve capacity of their network with digital radio equipment,” Ogunbanjo said.}

^{In clear terms, operators lack capacity to meet the demand of subscribers and they have no apologies for that.}

^{Operators blame high cost of doing business, rising insecurity and widespread cases of theft of their vital equipment and so on for worsening quality of service.}

^{They also point at forced relocation of hundreds of kilometers of fibre optic cables as a result of road works as well as difficult access to sites and community relations troubles.}

^{Myke Offili, general manager commercial, Coloplus, telecommunications collocation services provider, agreed that network congestion is responsible for the poor telecommunications services been experienced by subscribers as pressure is on the network at the same time.}

^{He stressed the need for operators to expand their network through making available additional spectrum to them in line with ATCON position.}

^{He urged government to address the high cost of deploying network infrastructure as well intensify effort in educating the public on the impact of technology contrary to on-going misinformation about certain technology at the market place.}

^{Elsewhere, Oladipo Raji, group managing director, InfraFocus Technologies, attributed the poor network services to congestion of the network as a lot of people are accessing the network at the same time.}

^{“This means that we don’t have adequate capacity on the network. Everywhere in the world there are always two networks mobile and fixed networks delivering mobile and fixed data services, but in Nigeria we have put the two networks together and into one operator through universal licensing regime where GSM operators delver mobile and fixed data from one network hence the congestion.}

^{“If we had encouraged ISPs to deliver fixed data at home and offices while GSM operators deliver mobile data we would not have been in this situation. It is time for NCC to correct this mistake and segregate the market by licensing ISPs to deliver internet to homes and offices by this, jobs will be created as well,” he said.}

Kindly share this post

Up Next

NITDA Promises to Balance Concerns and Advantages of 4th Industrial Revolution

Don't Miss

MTN Mulls N3.50 Interim Dividend amid Drop in Profit

Comms Week

Nigeria CommunicationsWeek believes that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world. So since 2007, we have devoted our energy to independent reportage of technology and how they affect lives.

Comments

Telecom

NITDA DG Charts Bold Path for Innovation-Led Digital Boom in North

Published

3 hours ago

January 7, 2026

Ugo Onwuaso

Kindly share this post

Mr. Kashifu Inuwa, Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), has urged Northern Nigeria to pivot urgently from traditional commerce to an innovation-driven digital economy for sustainable growth.

NITDA

Inuwa issued the call at the Future Map Foundation Roundtable 1.0 (North-West Edition) in Kano, attributing the region’s sluggish digital adoption not to talent deficits but to the lack of deliberate, coordinated strategies.

He stressed deeper collaboration across academia, private sector players, entrepreneurs, and government, positioning the private sector as the primary innovation engine while government supplies robust policies and an enabling ecosystem.

Inuwa advocated for people-focused, locally tailored innovations that tackle regional challenges head-on, enabling global competitiveness by transitioning from mere technology users to creators of homegrown solutions.

The roundtable convened policymakers, tech founders, and ecosystem stakeholders to forge a comprehensive roadmap for North-West digital transformation, yielding firm commitments to bolster regional innovation policies and public-private synergies.

Inuwa’s push dovetails seamlessly with the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which sets an ambitious target of 95 per cent nationwide digital literacy by 2030, fostering inclusive economic empowerment.

Participants hailed the forum as a pivotal step toward unlocking Northern Nigeria’s tech potential, with NITDA poised to lead implementation through strategic interventions and partnerships.

Kindly share this post

Telecom

Samsung Plans to Double AI Mobile Devices to 800 million Units this Year

Published

18 hours ago

January 6, 2026

Chike Onwuegbuchi

Kindly share this post

Samsung Electronics plans to double this year the number of its mobile devices with “Galaxy AI” features largely powered by Google’s Gemini, its co-CEO said, which would give the U.S. firm an edge over rivals as the global race in artificial intelligence heats up.

The South Korean company, which had rolled out Gemini-backed AI features to about 400 million mobile products, including smartphones and tablets, by last year, plans to boost that figure to 800 million in 2026.

“We will apply AI to all products, all functions, and all services as quickly as possible,” T M Roh told Reuters in his first interview since becoming Samsung Electronics co-CEO in November.

The plan by the world’s largest backer of Google’s Android mobile platform is set to give a major boost to its developer Google, which is locked in a race with OpenAI and others to attract more consumer users to their AI model.

Samsung seeks to reclaim its lost crown from Apple in the smartphone market and fend off competition from Chinese rivals not only in mobile telephones, but televisions and home appliances, all overseen by Roh.

It will offer integrated AI services across consumer products to widen its lead over Apple in such features, though the latter was set to be the top smartphone maker last year, according to market researcher Counterpoint.

AI Race

Alphabet’s Google launched the latest version of Gemini in November, highlighting Gemini 3’s lead on several popular industry measures of AI model performance.

In response to Gemini 3, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman reportedly issued an internal “code red,” pausing non-core projects and redirecting teams to accelerate development. The ChatGPT maker launched its GPT-5.2 AI model a few weeks later.

Roh expects the adoption of AI to accelerate, as Samsung’s surveys on awareness of its Galaxy AI brand jumped to a level of 80% from about 30% in just one year.

“Even though the AI technology might seem a bit doubtful right now, within six months to a year, these technologies will become more widespread,” he said.

Kindly share this post

Telecom

MENXTT NG to pre-install Bitdefender Antivirus on all laptops from 2026

Published

1 day ago

January 6, 2026

Ugo Onwuaso

Kindly share this post

MENXTT NG, a leading technology distributor, has announced plans to bundle Bitdefender Antivirus software with all laptops sold in Nigeria starting 2026, aiming to enhance cybersecurity for consumers and businesses.

MENXTT NG

As an authorised reseller of Bitdefender, the company said the initiative would ensure devices meet global security standards right from purchase, addressing rising cyber threats in personal, educational, and corporate sectors.

Bitdefender, a globally recognised antivirus solution, offers advanced threat detection against viruses, malware, ransomware, spyware, and phishing; lightweight performance without impacting device speed; multi-layered ransomware protection; safe browsing features; and certifications from independent testing bodies.

Anthony Emeka Nwosu, Co-Founder of MENXTT NG, stated: “At MENXTT NG, we pride ourselves on offering some of the best laptops, smartphones, and gadgets in the market.

“These devices power businesses, education, and daily life, and it is only right that they are properly protected. By partnering with Bitdefender, we are ensuring our customers enjoy world-class security alongside world-class devices.”

The move, according to industry analysts, positions MENXTT NG as a solutions provider in Nigeria’s tech market, bridging global best practices with local needs amid accelerating digital adoption.

MENXTT NG described the bundling as part of its strategy to deliver complete technology solutions and build customer trust.

For enquiries: +234 814 090 2614; www.menxtt.cm.ng; [email protected].

Kindly share this post