{"id":6911,"date":"2026-11-02T19:00:58","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T19:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/02\/airtels-open-network-puts-pressure-on-telcos-to-prove-service-quality-businessday-ng\/"},"modified":"2026-11-02T19:00:58","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T19:00:58","slug":"airtels-open-network-puts-pressure-on-telcos-to-prove-service-quality-businessday-ng","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/02\/airtels-open-network-puts-pressure-on-telcos-to-prove-service-quality-businessday-ng\/","title":{"rendered":"Airtel\u2019s open network puts pressure on telcos to prove service quality \u2013 Businessday NG"},"content":{"rendered":"

Airtel Nigeria\u2019s decision to expose parts of its network infrastructure and coverage information to subscribers is raising the stakes for transparency in the telecommunications industry, putting pressure on rival operators to provide clearer evidence of service quality as consumers demand better value for their money.\n<\/p>\n

The telecommunications operator has launched its Airtel Open Network platform, a feature integrated into the My Airtel Africa App that allows subscribers to view nearby network infrastructure, including operational 4G and 5G sites, locations undergoing upgrades and planned new sites within a 500-metre radius of their location.\n<\/p>\n

The platform also allows subscribers to report network performance problems directly through the application, creating a feedback channel that Airtel says will help identify areas requiring improvements in coverage, capacity and reliability.\n<\/p>\n

Nigeria is the first of Airtel Africa\u2019s 14 operating markets to introduce the consumer-facing network transparency feature, a development that could introduce a new dimension to competition among telecommunications operators, particularly as subscribers increasingly judge providers by the quality of connectivity rather than network coverage claims alone.\n<\/p>\n

Read also:\u00a0Airtel Africa more than doubles capital spending to $657m to accelerate network expansion<\/a><\/p>\n

Unlike conventional network coverage maps, which largely communicate where operators expect their services to be available, Airtel\u2019s platform gives customers a closer view of the infrastructure supporting connectivity in their immediate surroundings.\n<\/p>\n

The distinction is important in a market where subscribers frequently complain about inconsistent internet speeds, dropped calls, poor indoor reception and rapid data consumption despite spending more on connectivity.\n<\/p>\n

By making information about network sites and upgrades accessible, Airtel is effectively giving subscribers another tool to assess the infrastructure behind the services they purchase. It also creates an opportunity for customers to compare their actual experience with the network information provided by the operator.\n<\/p>\n

Dinesh Balsingh, chief executive officer of Airtel Nigeria, said the initiative was designed to make network information easier for customers to access and understand while providing a more direct channel for communicating service problems.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cTrust grows when customers can see what is happening and know that their concerns are being heard. With Open Network, we are giving customers greater visibility into our network and a more direct way to tell us where their experience falls short,\u201d Balsingh said.<\/p>\n

He said the platform translates complex network information into accessible insights, allowing subscribers to make more informed decisions about their connectivity.\n<\/p>\n

However, the initiative also raises expectations about how operators communicate network performance and respond to persistent service complaints.\n<\/p>\n

For years, telecommunications companies have relied heavily on coverage expansion figures, capital expenditure announcements and network availability claims to demonstrate improvements in service delivery. Yet these indicators do not always translate into consistent experiences for subscribers, particularly in densely populated communities where network capacity can become constrained.\n<\/p>\n

A telecommunications site may be operational, for instance, without necessarily guaranteeing uninterrupted connectivity to every subscriber within its coverage area. Building structures, indoor penetration, handset capabilities, interference and network congestion can affect the quality of service customers receive.\n<\/p>\n

Airtel acknowledged these limitations, explaining that the Open Network platform does not automatically improve network performance or guarantee uninterrupted reception. Rather, it provides information about available infrastructure and a channel through which customers can report discrepancies between expected and actual service experiences.<\/p>\n

The platform\u2019s longer-term value will depend on how effectively Airtel converts subscriber complaints into engineering interventions, how quickly identified problems are addressed and whether customers can observe measurable improvements following their reports.\n<\/p>\n

Aminu Maida, executive vice-chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), welcomed the initiative, saying accessible network information could complement the regulator\u2019s efforts to improve consumer confidence.\n<\/p>\n

Maida urged telecommunications companies to improve service quality beyond minimum regulatory requirements and address persistent challenges affecting subscribers.\n<\/p>\n

For rival operators, Airtel\u2019s move introduces a potential competitive benchmark. Although the NCC has not announced any requirement for other telecommunications companies to introduce similar platforms, the initiative could increase expectations for greater disclosure of network coverage, infrastructure upgrades and customer complaint resolution.\n<\/p>\n

It also shifts part of the competition towards how effectively operators demonstrate their service delivery rather than relying exclusively on advertising claims and coverage statistics.<\/p>\n

The development comes as Nigeria\u2019s telecommunications market continues to depend on substantial investments in infrastructure to accommodate rising demand for mobile internet, digital services and enterprise connectivity.\n<\/p>\n

However, infrastructure spending alone does not necessarily guarantee improvements in customer experience. The location of new sites, available capacity, backhaul infrastructure, power supply and the distribution of network resources all influence the quality of connectivity.\n<\/p>\n

Airtel said it would combine subscriber feedback with its infrastructure investments to guide engineering upgrades towards locations where improvements are most urgently required.\n<\/p>\n

Read also:\u00a0Airtel Africa names Goriola Bakare home broadband experience lead<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

The operator is also planning a nationwide awareness campaign, including demonstrations and user guides across digital, retail and traditional media platforms, to encourage its tens of millions of subscribers to use the feature.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the success of Open Network will be measured less by the number of subscribers who download or access the feature than by whether it helps close the gap between network availability and actual service quality.\n<\/p>\n

For Nigeria\u2019s telecommunications industry, the emerging challenge is no longer simply expanding network coverage. It is demonstrating that infrastructure investments are translating into reliable services and that subscribers have credible ways to hold operators accountable when they fall short.<\/p>\n

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Related News<\/h4>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRoyal Ibeh<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Royal Ibeh is a senior journalist with years of experience reporting on Nigeria\u2019s technology and health sectors. She currently covers the Technology and Health beats for BusinessDay newspaper, where she writes in-depth stories on digital innovation, telecom infrastructure, healthcare systems, and public health policies.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Businessday NG<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Airtel Nigeria\u2019s decision to expose parts of its network infrastructure and coverage information to subscribers is raising the stakes for transparency in the telecommunications industry, putting pressure on rival operators… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6912,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6911"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6911\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}