The Nigerian Communications Commission has issued a stern warning to telecom operators in the country, urging them to significantly improve their service quality or face severe regulatory sanctions.

The major telecommunications companies, including MTN Nigeria, Airtel, Globacom, and T2 Mobile, have rejected the criticisms leveled against them, describing the claims as half-truths.

The operators have called on the Senate to rely on accurate data from the official telecom regulator, the NCC, instead of disseminating information that does not reflect current realities in the sector’s development.

The Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria, Engr Gbenga Adebayo, spoke to Vanguard and emphasized that any claims about telecom infrastructure and national coverage must originate from the NCC to be considered reliable.

His words: “Upon which survey or statistics is the Senate coming up with its position of inadequate telecom infrastructure? As we speak today, over 70% of the country is covered with 3G and 4G, and 5G have about 11% coverage and the rest is 2G.

“Even in reality, 2G is strong enough to transmit results electronically. I do not know where the Senate is getting its information but we can’t take that blanket ban on electronic transmission based on a half-truth about our infrastructure and investments.

“We agree that there are just maybe about two states that, due to insurgency, that our members cannot risk going to maintain facilities. But that is what all stakeholders can sit together and decide how to cover those places. It’s not enough to say the country is not ready for electronic transmission.’’

Adebayo’s stance aligns with the position of the Independent National Electoral Commission, which in 2022 rejected similar concerns by stating that where network issues exist, election results uploaded to the iReV portal would transmit automatically once the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System machines are moved to locations with network coverage.