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While subscribers are interested in better quality of service, to enable them stay in touch with their business partners and loved ones, the telecom operators are more interested in growing their subscriber number, and therefore tie their leadership positions to the number of subscribers on their networks.

The craze for increase in subscriber number across networks has always been detrimental to quality of service, a situation that has led to high rate of call congestion across networks, and has remained a source of worry to both subscribers and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the telecom industry regulator.

Daily Independent investigation reveals that the rate at which telecom operators rollout services to different communities and towns, is not commensurate with the rate at which they rollout base stations and cell sites to the same communities and towns. Operators have played down on the expansion of cell sites, which of course, is the strength of call quality.

The more they rollout services to different communities, the more people sign up on their networks and the more their subscriber number increases.

But the truth of the matter is that the rate of service rollout is not the same with the rate of infrastructure rollout, and this often leads to network congestion and the inability to recharge phones because the number of subscribers has overgrown the capacity of the network.

Speaking at a co-location forum organised by Telecom Answers Associates in Lagos last month, Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Engr. Ernest Ndukwe said unless operators are able to rollout 40,000 base stations across the country, which he said is the projected target by the end of 2010, operators will continue to experience network congestion, since subscribers’ growth is on the increase. He decried the present number of base stations in the country, which he puts at 14, 000 for GSM operators and 2, 400 for CDMA operators, while urging operators to as a matter of urgency, consider fast rollout of base stations and towers across the country, in order to meet the projected target of 40, 000 base stations in 2010.

NCC had long ago, noticed the gap between infrastructure rollout and subscriber growth, a situation that compelled the Commission to place ban on telecoms promotions in 2007 and 2008 respectively. It later rescinded its decision on promo ban, and went into monthly testing of call quality across network.

In one of the results released on quality of service test, NCC scored MTN and Zain below pass mark and compelled them to pay compensation to every active subscriber on their networks for the months ended December 31, 2007 and January 31, 2008 at the rate of N175.00 per active subscriber for poor and unacceptable quality of services. The compensation amounted to N4.7 billion per month.

As at second quarter of 2007, MTN had about 2,661 base stations, 41 Switches in 12 Switching Centres across the country, with a total subscriber number of 15 million. In the same year, Zain had 11 million subscribers on its network with about 1,500 base stations, while Globacom had about 10 million subscribers with undisclosed number of base stations across the country.

But last month, MTN announced it has attained 25 million subscribers’ mark on its network, without disclosing the record of its current number of base stations across the country.

In the same vein, Globacom had in December 2008, announced it has attained 22 million subscriber on its network, but did not give details of the extent to which it has expanded its base stations. At the last official statement on subscriber number, Zain announced late last year that it has recorded over 20 million subscribers on its network.

On the total, telecom subscribers’ number both with the GSM and CDMA operators, is over 70 million. NCC had last year, announced 64 million, but subscriber number keeps appreciating on a daily basis, while quality of service keeps declining.

In a network expansion drive initiative in 2007, both MTN and Zain announced they will increase capacity on their networks. Chief Executive of MTN Nigeria, Mr. Ahmad Farroukh said MTN will increase its base stations from the then 2,661 to 3, 500 before the end of 2007, while the then Chief Commercial Officer for Zain Nigeria, Mr. Michael Foley, told Journalists in Lagos that the company will increase the number of its’ cell sites to 3,300 nationwide before the end of 2007, with Lagos having the highest number because of the high percent of subscribers’ base it represents.

But our investigation reveals that none of the operators were able to meet up with their promises.

An insider from one of the telecom companies, who chose to remain anonymous, disclosed that telecom operators do not rollout base stations the same way they rollout services in various communities, a reason, he said is largely responsible for poor quality of service across networks.

Although he refused to disclose the current number of base stations the company has, he said it will be difficult to release such figure for two reasons.

One of the reasons, he said, is the fear of being taxed by government on every base station. The second reason, according to him, is that of the public perception that electromagnetic emissions from base stations pose health risk, especially to those living close to telecom base stations.

He further explained that most telecom operators do no longer invest on building base stations, but rent from already built ones by Helios Towers and IHS Limited, the two famous telecom infrastructure companies in the country. He said since the issue of co-location was taken seriously by NCC, operators now rent base stations and mount their antennae on them. He equally disclosed that operators are concentrating more on laying fibre optic cables underground and later connect them to the few existing base stations for data and voice transmissions.

Our investigation further reveals that MTN is warming up for another phase rollout of its fibre optic cable across the country. Globacom had since 2006, embarked on connecting all its operations with fibre optic cable by laying them in rings, which will allow for continuous transmission of data and voice services, should any of the cables is damaged from one end.

Towards the end of 2007, there was tremendous increase in subscriber number across networks, occasioned by telecoms promos embarked upon by telecom operators. But the increase in subscriber number was not commensurate with the increase in base stations and it resulted in high drop call rates, breakages in transmission, inability to recharge phones, among others.

Telecom operators have always blamed government for not providing the basic infrastructure for telecom operations in the country, insisting that the lack of such basic telecom infrastructure remained the root cause of poor quality of service in 2007.

Mr. Deolu Ogunbanjo, president, National Association of Telecommunication Subscribers (NATCOMS) said 2007 was the worst year in the history of telecommunications, despite all the syndicated loans signed to improve on their networks.

According to him, telecom operators were busy investing the money from syndicated loans on network expansion in order to accommodate more subscribers, instead of investing the money on infrastructure development that would help improve voice quality, and address incessant drop calls. Network expansion without a resultant infrastructure development, he said resulted in the network congestion.

Worried by the high rate of drop calls in 2007, the Senate Committee on telecommunications, in October 2007 held a public forum on GSM drop calls.

In a passionate move to address the issue of quality of service (QoS), the Committee had a public hearing in Abuja on GSM drop calls, where it invited the NCC, Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of all telecom operating companies, as well as leaders of various telecoms associations, and the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS).

Last week, Etisalat, the newest entrant into GSM operations in the country, launched a new product called Easy Cliq, targeted at the Nigerian youths.

The launch, no doubt will boost Etisalat subscribers’ number, but when asked if Etisalat has considered base station expansion to accommodate the expected boom in subscriber number, Mr. Yinka Akande, Director, Brands and Communications for Etisalat said it was not necessary to disclose the company’s base station expansion plan but assured that Etisalat is constantly rolling out base stations the same way it is expanding services. Time will however prove him right or wrong, when more people begin to sign up with the network.

Blaming telecom operators for poor quality of service in recent times, President of the Association of Telecom Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem said operating companies are chewing more than they could swallow. According to him, ATCON is an advocacy group that has continuously kicked against the idea of increasing the number of subscribers, without increasing the number of telecom base stations, a situation he said, is largely responsible for high drop calls across networks.

He called on NCC, to compel operating companies to rollout base stations the same way they rollout services.

Between Quality Of Service And Telecom Subscriber Growth