BREAKING: Slow-Motion Service And The Audacity Of Rising Telecom Tariffs

It was 11:45 AM on another Monday. I had a very important meeting scheduled for 12 noon. I booted up my PC, adjusted my MTN MiFi in the best position I could find, and hoped for a smooth connection.

The network connection was incredibly terrible. I clicked “Join Meeting” on the Zoom link, but nothing happened. A second attempt, then a third and fourth, all met with the same frustrating delay: the “connecting notification” on the Zoom app spun endlessly. My frustration mounted with each passing minute.

It was now 12:05 PM, and I was already running late. I tried calling the host on a regular voice call to let him know about my connection problem, but the call wouldn’t go through—”call failed to connect,” it said. I tried using a hotspot from my mobile data. It didn’t work.

I had been through this countless times. The unreliable network has only gotten worse in recent weeks. I tried to connect to my Airtel MiFi. It was worse. After another failed attempt to connect, I had to give up. My scheduled role in the meeting was unfulfilled. Plans cancelled.

This was not the first time I had faced such setbacks, and I have, sadly, learnt to accept it. The network drama tends to occur most during important moments.

I switched off my laptop and slept with frustration. Then I woke up an hour later; navigated to X (formerly Twitter) after noticing a fair signal on my phone, and saw a news link that further amplified my frustration.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) had approved a hike in call, SMS, and data tariffs by up to 50%. I patiently read through to find out the reason for the hike. But I didn’t find what I thought was the reason, or what should ordinarily be the major reason. The telecom companies are not increasing prices because of excellent service delivery to be expected. They are not increasing it to improve their communication infrastructure to boost network service.

I was left wondering when we would get the network services we desperately need in Nigeria to make communications easy. Why have the NCC and the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy allowed these conditions to persist, year after year, with no improvement in service quality? Despite the tariffs increasing, the fundamental problem remained persistent.

In Abuja, where one would expect some semblance of technological advancement as the nations capital, 5G networks are either unavailable or barely functional.

4G networks flicker like a naked candle. Download speeds barely managed 50 kbps during the day and 125 kbps at night, and these are days when the connection does not drop completely. Even in the heart of the city, where such networks are supposed to shine, the reality is different. We cannot have an excellent network service, but we are expected to pay high tariffs.

The NCC and Communications Ministry have done nothing to address the issue of network stability. No one seemed to care about the poor service that always leaves millions of Nigerians in a perpetual state of connectivity limbo.

The NCC gave the telecom operators the go-ahead to raise these charges without pushing for meaningful improvements in network infrastructure. If the service quality cannot support these new tariffs, then what exactly are Nigerians paying for?

How do people whose jobs rely steadily on online communications cope? How many other Nigerians are experiencing the same frustration daily? How many have lost vital work opportunities, or worse, the ability to simply communicate with family and friends due to these perpetual unpredictable network conditions?

As usual, the burden of these increases would be borne by ordinary Nigerians, who are already struggling with the repercussions of a faltering economy.

It was just another day, with another system failure, to compound the growing list of frustrations.

Nigerians are now left with the option of complaining again and again, expending emotional energy, then ultimately resigning to the status quo—adjusting to another layer of systemic frustration. We will grumble on social media, discuss the injustice among friends and family, but eventually, like so many times before, we will adapt beautifully. The cycle of disappointment continues.

We will silently accommodate the new harsh reality of these increased tariffs and unchanged network quality. It is one of the features of an average Nigerian. The system has trained us like that..