Telecom
Mobile Etiquette: Are You Phone Savvy or Bore?
Cell phones are now part of our culture, our lives, and our realities. We are now used to it!
While mobile communication provides many benefits, including convenience, flexibility and personal security, it can sometimes be intrusive to others.
But seem to think, they are the only one with a cell phone. They pull it out at will, talk loud, not because he can only hear out of one ear, but he wants people to notice.
Now students leave class in the middle of lectures, disrupt the class and they answer the phone while sitting with their friends, all to please whom ever it is calling, driving while talking is just as dangerous as drinking and driving.
Correct mobile phone etiquette – is important both in considering others and helping to keep you and those around you safe.
1. Pay attention to the road.
We have growing evidence that cell phones may distract drivers and cause risks for themselves and other drivers.
The cell savvy user never uses a mobile phone while driving unless it is "hands free." Not only are both hands free to shift and steer, there seems to be a very significant difference in the degree of attention deficit when using an ear phone. The ear phone makes it much easier to focus on driving.
The cell savvy user is also careful to limit conversations in cars to traffic areas and conditions requiring low amounts of decision-making. In high volume, tricky driving situations, the cell savvy user either turns the phone off or lets it ring.
The cell phone bore pays no attention to traffic conditions, drives with phone in hand and may put surrounding cars and drivers at risk. Too focussed on phoning, the cell phone bore often misses what is happening on the road nearby and makes driving moves and decisions at an impaired level. Busy chatting, the cell phone bore may run a stop sign and broadside a car.
2. Speak softly.
The cell savvy user is careful to speak in hushed tones, knowing that a mobile phone has a sensitive microphone capable of picking up a soft voice.
The cell savvy user also sets the ring tone at a low level with a tune that is soft, gentle and not annoying.
The more crowded the situation, the quieter and softer the volume of voice and ring.
The cell savvy user moves to vibrate in any situation like a church, a workshop or a meeting where a ringing sound would prove disturbing to other people.
The cell savvy user tries to gain as little phone attention as possible. The goal is to communicate effectively without anybody else noticing or caring.
The cell phone bore speaks loudly and employs loud, obnoxious ring tones at all the wrong times and in all the wrong places. The cell phone bore calls attention to herself or himself.
Some people seem incapable of speaking on their cell phone in a normal tone of voice. Perhaps they are subconsciously worried that the party on the other end cannot hear them very well, so they double and triple their volume. Sometimes it seems as if they are shouting.
Watch the reactions of people near the cell phone bore when the voice or the ringer are too loud. The cell phone bore is not a popular person. Back to Top
3. Keep your distance.
Each person is surrounded by a personal space. This space provides feelings of safety and calm, especially in crowded places.
When strangers come into our personal space, it can make us feel uncomfortable.
The smart cell phone user respects the personal space of other people and tries to speak in places 10-20 feet or more away from the closest person.
If there is no private, separate space available, the smart cell phone user waits to speak on the phone until a good space is available.
Sensitivity to other peoples’ needs and comforts is a sign of good character.
Crowded rooms, lines and tight hallways are not good places to carry on phone conversations.
Next time you find yourself in a crowded space, watch the reactions of non mobile phone users to those who speak loudly into their phones while standing next to them.
The cell phone bore ignores the private personal space of others and seems oblivious to the discomfort caused by such behavior. Unconscious, unconcerned and unaware, the cell phone bore acts as if no one else matters. Back to Top
4. Keep business private.
Many personal and business conversations contain information that should remain confidential or private. Before using a mobile phone in a public location to discuss private business or issues, the cell savvy user makes sure that there will be enough distance to keep the content private. Some stories, some issues and some conflicts should be saved for times and locations that will allow for confidentiality.
The cell phone bore does not think strategically about content and handles a full range of issues and topics in a wide variety of settings without paying much attention to the surrounding audience. This lack of discrimination can have dangerous consequences as business deals, relationships and future plans may all be endangered by leaks and loose tongues.
5. Keep a civil and pleasant tone.
The cell savvy user knows that others might overhear a conversation, so they are careful to maintain a public voice that will not disturb others. At the same time, the cell savvy user knows that certain types of conversations may require or inspire some tough talk or emotional tones. They reserve these conversations for more private settings. They do not fire employees, chastise employees, argue with a boss or fight with a spouse or teenager on their mobile phones in public settings.
The cell phone bore will sometimes air dirty laundry in public and share emotionally intense conversations with nearby strangers. The cell phone bore will speak in loud and angry tones that often cause other people to move away if they can. Back to Top
6.. No cell phone before it’s time.
The cell savvy user thinks about when to turn the phone on or off. There are many situations where it would be rude if a phone rang, interrupting the transaction at hand.
Stepping up to a service counter, entering a restaurant or joining a meeting, the cell savvy user turn off the phone and relies upon voice mail to take incoming calls.
There may be sometimes when a particular incoming call or message requires an exception, but the vast majority of callers do not require immediate access.
The cell phone bore leaves the phone on all the time in all places regardless of the situation. The cell phone bore answers the phone no matter what else is happening and expects others to sit and wait while they chat with the caller. Back to Top
7. One thing at a time.
The busy person multi-tasking at a desk can be a wonderful model of efficiency, handling, phone, keyboard, coffee cup and remote control all at the same time, but at other times, multi-tasking can be hazardous, rude and inefficient.
The cell savvy user reserves multi-tasking for situations and times when it is safe, convenient and appropriate. Approaching a counter to work through a problem with an airline ticket, the cell savvy user turns off the phone or its ringer to protect the coming transaction from interruption. One thing at a time. Focus. Efficiency. Manners.
The cell savvy user often stops other activities such as typing when a call comes through in order to give the caller, full attention. Free of distraction, the cell savvy user makes the most of the call.
The cell phone bore often juggles multiple tasks at the wrong times in the wrong places and often drops a ball or makes someone else angry.
Stepping to the counter to work out a problem with a ticket, the cell phone bore takes an incoming call right in the middle of the transaction and holds up the employee as well as all the other customers lined up waiting for service. Oblivious to the inconvenience and inefficiency caused, the cell phone bore allows a mobile phone to interfere with the performance of the employee and the needs of the other customers. The cell phone bore puts personal wishes ahead of civility.
Bharti Airtel has announced a major milestone in its global operations, crossing 650 million mobile subscribers worldwide, a scale that now positions the company as the second-largest telecommunications operator on the planet by customer base.
Crossing this threshold reflects a network of immense scale, the capacity to reach customers across diverse markets with consistent quality, and the ability to deliver experiences shaped by sustained innovation.
In Nigeria, Airtel has continued to scale infrastructure at a pace unmatched in its recent history. Over the past three years, the company has increased its national site count from just above 13,000 to nearly 17,200 sites, including more than 1,560 added in the last twelve months. This expansion deepens capacity in high-demand corridors and extends high-speed coverage to previously underserved regions.
The latest industry data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) underscores the significance of this growth. As of December 2025, Nigeria recorded 145,141 base stations across 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G layers. Of this national infrastructure, Airtel accounts for 46,918 base-station layers, reflecting its substantial contribution to the country’s radio access network and its push to absorb rising data consumption.
Nearly 99 percent of Airtel Nigeria’s sites are now 4G-enabled, positioning the operator as one of the few with a near-ubiquitous high-speed broadband footprint. Thousands of sites have been upgraded for capacity in the past year alone, enabling improved speeds and more stable performance during peak usage.
That expansion underpins Nigeria’s rising internet adoption. According to the latest regulator figures, Nigeria’s internet penetration recently climbed above 50%, with Airtel recording among the largest monthly increases in new internet subscribers, driven by network upgrades across states and rural corridors.
Strategic Connectivity and Redundancy
Airtel is also tackling a critical infrastructure challenge for the Nigerian digital economy: reliance on a single international internet gateway. The company is advancing plans for its second submarine cable internet breakout point at Kwa Ibo in Akwa Ibom State, early in the 2Africa cable system rollout, to provide faster and more resilient national connectivity across regions. This significant investment aligns with global best practices in network diversity and redundancy, ensuring a more stable digital experience for consumers and enterprises alike.
Digital Finance at Scale: SmartCash
Airtel’s digital finance arm, SmartCash, has gained traction in Nigeria’s competitive mobile money ecosystem, now serving over 3 million active users. The platform is supported by an expansive agent network and digital services that lower barriers for everyday financial transactions and savings.
Outstanding Human Touch: Retail Reach
Across Nigeria, Airtel’s retail distribution network stands as one of the sector’s most extensive, with approximately 4,000 exclusive outlets bringing services, support, and products closer to customers in small towns, communities, and high-traffic urban hubs. That footprint drives both access and engagement in a market where localized presence remains a competitive differentiator.
As Nigeria’s digital economy continues to evolve, Airtel is committed to sustained innovation — from expanded fibre backbones and advanced mobile broadband to future-ready services that include satellite-enabled solutions and enterprise-grade digital platforms. These efforts help ensure that connectivity, commerce, and creativity thrive across Nigeria and beyond.
Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said that compensation of subscribers for poor service quality, such as persistent network outages or failed calls is automatic.
This initiative aims to ensure fairness by mandating that operators provide automatic compensation, such as airtime credits, for failing to meet regulatory Quality of Service Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
According to the NCC, operators are required and mandated to identify affected subscribers and provide compensation directly.
In a framework for compensation of consumers published on its website, NCC said that it has directed Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to compensate subscribers affected by prolonged or repeated poor quality of service experience within specific Local Government Areas where operators fail to meet regulatory Quality of Service Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
The NCC also stated that the directive does not replace existing consumer protection mechanisms.
The NCC, said the directive adds a direct compensation mechanism for affected subscribers and aligns with measures set in existing legislations such as the Consumer Code of Practice Regulations 2024 and the Quality of Service Regulations 2024.
This directive applies to only Mobile Network Operators licensed and operating in Nigeria that have failed to meet their Key Performance Indicators on Quality of Service. For Internet Service Providers (ISPs) operating in Nigeria, a compensation framework is already in place.
To be eligible to receive compensation
. You experienced poor network service in an affected Local Government Area; and
- You made at least one outgoing revenue generating event (billed call, SMS, or data session) during the relevant period.
The compensation covers service failures affecting voice, data, or SMS services.
Operators are required and mandated by existing regulations to monitor their network performance across locations and service disruptions against Quality of Service KPIs.
This enables them to identify affected subscribers without the need for individual complaints.
Only service failures that fall below the defined thresholds set by the Quality of Service Regulations issued by the NCC will qualify for compensation.
Short, isolated interruptions and immediately remedied interruptions may not qualify
Compensation will be provided in the form of airtime credits.
This airtime credit will not have utilisation restrictions, and subscribers will be able to use it for voice calls, USSD sessions, data subscriptions, etc on the operators’ network.
Federal Government has announced plans to deepen collaboration with private sector players and other stakeholders in a bid to strengthen Nigeria’s cybersecurity architecture and response systems.
NDPC
Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, disclosed this in a recent press statement, noting that the government is considering the establishment of a Cybersecurity Coordination Council.
According to the minister, the proposed council is aimed at enhancing national cyber resilience and ensuring a more coordinated response to emerging cyber threats across public and private institutions.
Tijani emphasised that cybersecurity must be treated as a collective responsibility involving government, industry, and civil society.
“Cybersecurity is a shared national responsibility. Protecting Nigeria’s digital economy requires strong partnerships, trusted collaboration, and collective vigilance across government, industry, and civil society,” he said.
He added that through sustained collaboration, Nigeria would strengthen its capacity to detect cyber threats early, respond effectively, and build a resilient and trusted digital ecosystem.
The minister also called for increased stakeholder participation in shaping a sustainable, partnership-driven cybersecurity framework capable of deterring cybercriminal activities and safeguarding citizens, businesses, and critical digital infrastructure.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) has commenced an investigation into an alleged data breach involving Remita Payment Services Ltd., Sterling Bank, and other entities.
In a statement signed by its Head of Legal, Enforcement and Regulations, Babatunde Bamigboye, the commission said notices of investigation were issued to relevant parties on April 1, 2026.
The NDPC noted that affected organisations and individuals are currently providing information to aid its inquiry into the incident.
“The aim of the investigation is to ensure that data subjects are protected with appropriate technical and organisational measures,” the statement read.
It added that the probe would examine the types of personal data involved, the scope and nature of the alleged breach, potential risks to data subjects, and mitigation steps taken where breaches are confirmed.
The commission further disclosed that its National Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer, Vincent Olatunji, has directed a broader review of organisations operating digital payment systems.
According to the NDPC, entities found to be non-compliant with provisions of the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023, particularly regarding technical and organisational safeguards, would be scrutinised as part of efforts to maintain the integrity of the nation’s data protection ecosystem.
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