Telecom
We are Ensuring Utmost Commitment to Customer Service Excellence – Ajay
Ajay Awasthi, chief executive officer, Spectranet spoke on how the telecommunications services provider was able to deliver quality service during the lockdown and challenges operators face is expanding capacity.
This pandemic lockdown presents huge opportunities for telecom and e-commerce companies as virtual communication and online transactions have become the order of the day. How is Spectranet faring?
The lockdown has presented more challenges than opportunities. Spectranet being a 24×7 service provider, the challenges are pretty much unique and related to ensuring site uptime in remote corners, ensuring call center operations with strict distancing rules, attending to customer complaints in their premises. All this needs to be done while ensuring safety of our people.
Cost of operations has gone up significantly as urgent network upgrades have to be done to ensure un-compromised customer experience while browsing. We have also seen an upsurge in call center volumes with customers enquiring about where to renew. This means deployment of more manpower.
Humbling to mention that team Spectranet, with its utmost commitment to customer service excellence, has fared well in countering these challenges in double quick time
In terms of traffic, how is your network coping with your consumers?
The Data traffic in the network has increased over 30%. While this is a happy situation to be in, the sudden increase in traffic poses a challenge in terms of keeping up with the quality of service. In order to ensure that our customers experience is not compromised, Spectranet has acted fast and invested significantly to enhance capacities on the access and backhaul network.
By what are the major areas or products you have received the largest traffic on your network?
The traffic for Video applications (like Netflix, You tube) has shown a significant increase and so has the Facebook related traffic.
Also, we have observed trends wherein the traffic during night time has started overtaking the daytime traffic. We are happy that our Mega Value Plans offering anytime data plus free and truly unlimited night time browsing are becoming a big hit with our customers.
With the closure of business premises, how have your consumers being able to recharge their modems?
Being a technology company Spectranet has been investing heavily in building up Digital channels. Our customers can effortlessly pay through any of our digital channels available on Self Care.
Telcos may be making money from this lockdown, but in terms of telecom equipment importation and network rollout, how will it affect telcos like Spectranet?
In order to increase our access and backhaul network capacities, as mentioned earlier, we had to invest significant amounts and incur extra costs for ensuring 24X7 availability of network and call center operations.
To sustain this growth in traffic, fresh equipment is required to be imported. With tight FOREX supply, we are finding it extremely difficult to get access to FOREX to pay for this equipment. This will result in delayed projects and consequent degradation of services.
Have you experienced are challenges like refueling your base stations or movement of your essential staff from law enforcement agencies?
Telecoms being one of the essential services, the law enforcement agencies have been extremely cooperative. This has helped us in keeping the vital operations like re-fueling of cell sites, carrying out repair and maintenance work going without any hindrance.
What lessons can we learn from the current situation to get things done better as businesses and as a country?
This pandemic has completely changed the way work used to be done and transformed how companies engage and interact with their customers. Digitalization is the way forward. It is not only more cost efficient but also act as a turbo charger for productivity. Critical to add that a move towards digitalization will also need robust framework for data security and privacy related concerns.
Recently, the Naira was devalued, how does this affect your business?
Devaluation of Naira has certainly increased the cost of doing business. All the dollar denominated CAPEXes have suddenly got inflated by the devaluation. Similarly, cost of importing modems and other devices have increased. The devaluation is going to put significant financial burden on smaller operators. Similarly, cost of importing modems and other devices have increased. The devaluation and scarce availability of FOREX is going to hamper expansion of operations in a significant manner for smaller operators.
How has the lockdown impacted on telecoms services on the part of Spectranet?
The lockdown has presented quite a few challenges. Spectranet being a 24×7 service provider, the challenges are pretty much unique and related to ensuring site uptime in remote corners, ensuring call center operations with strict distancing rules, attending to customer complaints in their premises. All this needs to be done while ensuring safety of our people. Cost of operations has gone up significantly as urgent network upgrades have to be done to ensure un-compromised customer experience while browsing.
We have also seen an upsurge in call center volumes with customers enquiring about where to renew. This has resulted in deployment of more manpower. Humbling to mention that team Spectranet, with its utmost commitment to customer service excellence, has fared well in countering these challenges in double quick time
Checks showed that Spectranet customers are largely enterprises, I mean corporate bodies, but these entities are not opening offices, with most staff working from home. What is the percentage spike in traffic, either low or high?
Spectranet has a fair mix of enterprise, retail 4G LTE and HomeFiber ( FTTx) customers. While the traffic from enterprise customers has reduced, we have seen an upsurge in traffic from retail customers.
Overall, the data traffic in the network has increased over 30%. While this is a happy situation to be in, the sudden increase in traffic poses a challenge in terms of keeping up with the quality of service. In order to ensure that our customers experience is not compromised, Spectranet has acted fast and invested significantly to enhance capacities on the access and backhaul network.
What strategies is Spectranet putting in place to remain up and doing this period?
This pandemic has completely changed the way work used to be done and transformed how we engage and interact with our customers. Digitalization is the way forward. It is not only more cost efficient but also act as a turbo charger for productivity. Being a technology company Spectranet has been investing heavily in building up Digital channels. The pace of digitalization needs to be hastened up now.
Going forward, what is the fate of Tier 2 operators in the country?
Spectranet by virtue of its robust network with industry leading uptime figures, excellent customer service and an extremely strong brand, will continue to play its role as a leading Internet Service Provider. Our recent diversification into FTTx an WTTx based Fixed line services has further strengthened the position of the brand as numero uno in the industry. We will continue to invest in cutting edge technologies to offer high speed broadband in Nigeria, at par with international broadband standards.
Nigeria, through the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has won the 2025 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) prize for its project, the Digital Awareness Programme (DAP), under Category C3, which is on Access to Information and Knowledge.
L–R: Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Aminu Maida, receives the WSIS 2025 Prize (Category C3: Access to Information and Knowledge) from the Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Doreen Bogdan-Martin, following the selection of the Commission’s Digital Awareness Programme (DAP) as winner of the category.
The DAP, one of hundreds of projects submitted for the WSIS Prizes competition 2025, received the highest number of votes in its category, earning it the top honour. The programme equips secondary schools across the country with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) resources and provide internet connectivity to support teaching, learning, and research. Since inception in 2006, over 300 schools across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones have benefitted from the programme.
The Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida, received the award during the WSIS Prizes Winners 2025 Ceremony held on Monday in Geneva, Switzerland.
In his acceptance remarks, Dr. Maida thanked the hosts, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and WSIS, for recognising Nigeria’s efforts in promoting inclusive digital access across Nigeria, noting that the award would serve as further motivation for the Commission.
“This recognition is more than a celebration of past efforts—it is an encouragement to press forward. It affirms that investing in digital inclusion is investing in national development, and that Nigeria’s work is being seen and valued on the global stage,” Dr. Maida said.
Four other Nigerian projects—the Women Techsters and the Advanced Digital Empowerment Programme for Tertiary Institutions (ADEPTI) under Capacity Building, the Telecom-Based Research Grant Initiative under Enabling Environment, and the Digital Learning Initiative under e-Learning—were also celebrated for their nomination for the Champions Category of Projects at the WSIS Prizes Ceremony. Although they were not among the top-voted entries, they were acknowledged for their significant merit and impact.
The WSIS Prizes competition recognises and promotes projects that effectively leverage ICTs to advance sustainable development. The competition showcases how technology can serve as a powerful tool for addressing global challenges and achieving the SDGs. Projects from around the world are recognised annually, highlighting diverse approaches to building an inclusive information society.
The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) is a United Nations (UN) initiative aimed at building a people-centred, inclusive, and development-oriented information society. It provides a multi-stakeholder platform to address issues related to Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and their role in achieving sustainable development.
The Forum is an annual event that brings together high-level representatives from governments, the private sector, civil society, academia, the technical community, and international organisations. It serves as a global platform for implementing the WSIS Action Lines, which are aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has given telecom tower operators in the country August 2025 deadline to fix persistent network hitches in their facilities or face regulatory sanctions.
The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the commission, Dr. Aminu Maida, reportedly gave the ultimatum during a high-level meeting with key industry players, attended by representatives of IHS Towers, American Tower Corporation (ATC), and Pan-African Towers, and mobile network operators (MNOs) in Abuja
According to sources, discussions at the meeting focused on the recurring challenges in the telecoms sector, particularly power failures, equipment malfunctions, and insufficient site maintenance, that have been causing poor Internet and call services in the country
Specifically, Maida tasked the tower operators on the imperative of complying with the NCC’s updated Quality of Service (QoS) framework, which now extends performance obligations to infrastructure providers, not just telecom service providers.
According to him, the timeline given by the commission is more than enough time for all parties to align with the performance standards expected of them.
Recently, to ensure compliance with the standards, the NCC introduced a Major Incident Reporting Portal for real-time outage disclosures; developed public performance dashboards to enhance transparency; mandated that telecom tower companies meet strict Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
Although the tower operators had previously cited delayed payments from MNOs as a reason for service lapses, the NCC had dismissed the justification, insisting that all parties must meet their obligations.
The EVC maintained: “Operators must fulfill both their technical and financial responsibilities. Poor service delivery—regardless of internal disputes—will attract consequences.”
Available data on the telecom tower infrastructure shows that IHS Towers has the largest assets with 16,000–19,000 sites, (62% market share); compared to American Tower Corp’s (ATC’s) about 8,270 towers; and Pan-African Towers’ 760–1,000 sites nationwide.
The latest NCC’s August deadline is believed to be putting pressures on the tower operators to improve the quality of their facilities for improved services as the commission had hinted of its plan to sanction defaulting operators with fines or stricter regulatory actions.
Industry experts believe that the NCC’s directive is a welcomed development as it will ensure reliable Internet connectivity and improved services quality for telecom consumers in the country.
Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is set to play a pivotal role at the upcoming 6th edition of the Telecom Sector Sustainability Forum (TSSF 6.0), where it will lead a critical discussion on the sustainable growth of Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) in Nigeria.
Set against a backdrop of innovation and opportunity, this forum, organized by Business Remarks, aptly themed “Unlocking Nigeria’s MVNO Potential: Status, Trends, Investment, and Future Prospects,” is scheduled for August 26, 2025. This event reinforces the nation’s commitment to fostering a robust, competitive, and inclusive telecommunications landscape.
The forum will bring together a diverse array of key stakeholders from across the telecom ecosystem to deliberate on strategies for integrating MVNOs effectively into Nigeria’s rapidly evolving digital economy. With the recent advancements in technology and the issuance of 43 MVNO licenses to new players, MVNOs are poised to significantly enhance service delivery, drive digital transformation, penetrate underserved markets, and stimulate healthy competition across the sector.
As the global MVNO market is experiencing significant growth, with projections indicating continued expansion, experts believe that with the right regulatory environment and access to infrastructure, emerging markets like Nigeria can leverage MVNOs to unlock new value for both operators (by utilizing excess network capacity) and customers. Customers can enjoy a rich array of niche value-added services tailored to their needs.
Having been proactive in introducing a five-tier MVNO licensing classification, each with distinct services and a 10-year validity period, signaling a clear path for new entrants, the telecom regulator (NCC) will deliver a keynote address outlining the Commission’s regulatory framework, interventions, and commitment to ensuring a conducive environment for MVNO operations.
Mrs. Bukola Olanrewaju, Convener of the forum and Managing Editor of Business Remarks, emphasized the importance of collaboration. “TSSF 6.0 is designed to be a melting pot of ideas, bringing together Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), MVNOs, telecoms infrastructure providers, Internet Service Providers, industry associations, and technology experts,” she said.
“Our goal is to ignite discussions that will shape the future of MVNOs in Nigeria, ensuring their sustainable growth and their critical role in extending digital prosperity across the nation.”
The forum will feature interactive sessions, thought-provoking panel discussions, insightful paper presentations, and abundant networking opportunities. This event aims to provide a platform for stakeholders to share insights, address challenges, and explore collaborative pathways for sustainable growth.
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