Reps summon telcos over poor services

The House Ad Hoc Committee has ordered affected telecommunications companies to explain the continuing decline in service quality. They must provide relevant documents before the hearing and send their chief executives to answer questions directly. The order follows complaints about services that millions of subscribers and businesses rely on.

The operators include MTN Nigeria, Airtel, Globacom and Mafab Communications. They must appear before the committee at 2pm on October 28, 2026, in Hearing Room 447 of the National Assembly’s New Building in Abuja. The Nigerian Communications Commission was told to ensure compliance.

The committee issued the ultimatum after some invited companies failed to attend earlier hearings. It warned that executives who ignore the new invitation could face arrest summons to compel their appearance. Lawmakers want explanations for dropped calls, unstable internet, slow data and weak coverage, plus clear plans to improve service.

The Nigerian Communications Commission is the government body that regulates telecommunications in Nigeria. In general, a telecom regulator sets rules, monitors service providers and can require operators to meet licensing and service obligations. The article specifically identifies the NCC as the body responsible for ensuring operators comply with the House committee’s attendance order.

The committee directed the NCC to make sure all affected operators appear at the October 28 hearing. It also required the companies to submit relevant documents and explain their service problems. This gives the regulator a practical enforcement role in the investigation, even though the article does not list every NCC power.

The immediate issue is accountability. Some operators had failed to honour earlier invitations or sent junior representatives. The committee wants the NCC to secure full compliance, while company executives explain operational challenges, service obligations and plans to address subscribers’ complaints.

The reported problems are national in importance. The House is investigating persistent complaints from subscribers across Nigeria, while the article notes poor coverage in several parts of the country. Reported symptoms include dropped calls, unstable internet connections and slow data speeds. No exact number of affected locations or subscribers is provided.

The networks support far more than phone conversations. The article links them to internet access, businesses, financial transactions, banking, digital commerce, online services and Point of Sale payments. A single network failure can therefore affect communication, purchases, payments and business operations at the same time.

This wide dependence explains why lawmakers call the issue a serious national concern. The committee wants operators to identify the causes and explain their improvement plans. Until service becomes more reliable, disruptions can continue to affect customers, merchants, banks and other organisations that depend on connectivity.

The House of Representatives established an ad hoc committee to investigate recurring complaints about telecommunications services. Its mandate is to identify why operators are providing poor quality and whether they are meeting obligations to subscribers. That investigative role is why the committee is demanding documents and explanations from company leaders.

The committee is seeking personal attendance from chief executives. Chairman Olumide Osoba said they are best placed to explain operational challenges, service obligations and plans for addressing complaints. The House criticised companies that sent lower-ranking officials or offered excuses instead of engaging directly.

An arrest summons in this situation is a coercive step to compel attendance, not a finding that an executive committed a crime. The article says executives who fail to honour the invitation could be summoned for arrest. The warning follows earlier missed invitations by some operators, including MTN and Mafab Communications.

The article lists the symptoms, not their precise technical causes. In general, dropped calls and slow data can happen when too many users share limited network capacity. Weak radio signals, interference, damaged towers or insufficient coverage can also interrupt connections. These explanations are established telecom possibilities, not findings made by the committee in this article.

Operational failures can add to the problem. Fibre or backhaul links may be damaged, power supplies may fail, and delayed maintenance can leave equipment unreliable. Congestion between a mobile site and the wider network can slow internet access even when a phone shows a signal. Poor planning or difficult terrain can produce coverage gaps.

The hearing is intended to clarify which factors are actually affecting Nigerian operators. Companies must explain their operational challenges and service obligations. Their answers could show whether improvements require more capacity, repairs, stronger backup systems, better maintenance or wider coverage. The article does not confirm any one cause.

Telecommunications failures can interrupt the basic work of businesses and households. Calls may not connect, internet services may become unusable, and digital transactions may fail or take longer. Because many services depend on connectivity, a network problem can spread beyond communication into commerce, banking and customer service.

For example, a merchant may be unable to complete a Point of Sale payment when the network is unstable. A business may lose a sale, delay an order or struggle to contact customers. The article also connects disruptions with banking transactions, digital commerce and access to online services. The key mechanism is simple: these activities need a working network to send and receive data.

The article says repeated disruptions often result in lost time, revenue and productivity. That makes service quality an economic issue, not only a technical inconvenience. The committee will question operators about causes, corrective action and whether they are meeting obligations to subscribers.

The article focuses on the House investigation and does not recommend specific backup services. In general, subscribers can compare another mobile operator, use dual-SIM devices or switch between networks when coverage differs. Businesses can also consider fixed broadband, where available, or maintain a separate connection for critical work.

A useful backup has to use a different path from the main service. For example, a shop might use one mobile network for its primary POS connection and another operator or fixed broadband line as backup. A business could also use a separate wireless connection for essential internet access. The key mechanism is redundancy: one failure does not remove every route to connectivity.

These alternatives cannot guarantee uninterrupted service. Availability, price, signal strength and local infrastructure vary. They may also require compatible equipment and separate subscriptions. The committee’s investigation could clarify the operators’ plans for improving reliability, but the article does not say whether any provider has adopted a specific backup solution.