Regulation By Sunlight: How Transparency Is Changing Nigeria’s Telecoms Sector

Bad behaviour does not fare well under exposure. People, institutions, and systems tend to be at their best when the spotlight is on them. A United States Supreme Court Justice, Louis Brandeis, captured the power of transparency aptly when he observed in a 1913 article that “sunlight is said to be the best disinfectant; electric light the most efficient policeman.”

Transparency, like sunlight, exposes. Bad behaviour that prefers to remain unseen either falls in line or risks public embarrassment. Information, when placed in the hands of the public, empowers them. For businesses, it deters them from conduct that is unbecoming, because few welcome sustained scrutiny that ultimately damages their reputation.

The telecommunications industry is no exception. The regulatory approach adopted by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to proactively disclose information—bringing clear and easy-to-understand information to the public domain—is reshaping how consumers, operators, and investors perceive the sector.

Traditionally, regulation in the industry leaned heavily on a punitive, command-and-control model. The regulator made the rules, enforced them, and wielded the whip to keep operators in line. But with well over a thousand licensed operators, the whips were never going to go around. One must also pose the question: do whips truly inspire better behaviour? But that is a subject for another conversation.

In a competitive environment as we have in telecommunications, operators are driven by the need to outperform one another. They compete for subscribers, promote attractive bonuses, and roll out sleek tariff offerings. When this competition plays out in an open and transparent field—where accurate, timely, and comparable information is available—consumers ultimately benefit, and operators are incentivised to improve.

Take an example from late 2024, when the NCC concluded an audit of the national telecoms subscriber database following the implementation of the Federal Government’s NIN–SIM linkage policy. Over 60 million lines were removed from the system. The regulator did not attempt to massage the numbers or obscure the reality. The facts, though stark, were presented plainly. Operators were confronted with their true subscriber figures, and the signal was unmistakable: it was time to sit up. Operators immediately began to develop and deploy strategies to get more subscribers—both lost and new ones—to their network.

Sunlight, indeed, does two things—it brightens, and it heats. Both can be uncomfortable if they hit you unprepared.

The NCC’s directive mandating mobile network operators and major Internet service providers to notify consumers of significant service disruptions and planned maintenance aligns squarely with this transparency and accountability ethos. In the same vein, the NCC last year launched a Major Network Outage Incident Reporting Portal on its website. On this platform, operators now report major outages they face, their causes, affected areas, and restoration timelines.

Sometime in 2025, the NCC introduced its Guidelines on Corporate Governance for the telecommunications industry. The framework mandates operators in the sector to have stronger board composition and effectiveness. It enhances compliance and ethical standards and demands more robust risk management and audit practices in the sector. Crucially, it advances transparency and accountability across the sector. Operators are now required to submit mid-year and annual compliance reports detailing adherence to governance standards, ethical obligations, and risk management practices. The Guidelines strengthen public trust, bolster investor confidence, and preserves the integrity of the industry.

Further deepening this transparency drive, the NCC, in partnership with Ookla, began publishing quarterly operators’ network performance reports in October 2025. These reports benchmark quality of service and quality of experience across operators. They also provide insights into network capacity, 5G opportunities, and device performance.

Similarly, the NCC has launched its National Coverage Maps. The maps allow consumers to visualise network coverage, speeds, and service availability across the country.

Taken together, these measures place the industry in the public glare—open to scrutiny and assessment. For consumers, they are enabled to make more informed choices about networks and tariffs. For operators, transparency in the industry imposes a new era where performance is visible, shortcomings are exposed, and accountability is no longer abstract. To protect their brands and market positions, operators must now resolve network challenges more quickly, communicate more honestly, and deliver better service.

Investors take transparency in Nigeria’s telecommunications industry seriously. For them, it signals regulatory predictability and reduced uncertainty—conditions that give investors the confidence to commit capital to the sector.

Perhaps most importantly, this openness helps rebuild public trust in Nigeria’s telecommunications sector.

It is unsurprising that the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) ranked the NCC among the top five Federal Government agencies for transparency and efficiency in 2025. The ranking affirmed that the Commission’s effort to place the industry under public scrutiny was being felt—and seen.

The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida, captured the moment succinctly: “This recognition is an affirmation of the values that guide our work: transparency, accountability, and an unwavering commitment to regulatory excellence. It signals that the reforms we have pursued, the systems we have strengthened, and the decisions we have taken are yielding the right results.”

There are still gaps the industry must close. Yet this approach—proactive disclosure, borderless transparency, and consistent accountability—clearly places the NCC on the right path to addressing both long-standing and emerging challenges in the telecommunications sector.

Darkness preserves the status quo. Turning on the light sets reform in motion. By ensuring tariff clarity, publishing real-time coverage maps, making network performance and operator ratings public, and enforcing a corporate governance framework rooted in accountability, the NCC is cultivating a culture in which the lights remain on. Competition is sharpened, performance becomes non-negotiable, and underperformance has nowhere to hide.

Johannes Wojuola, is the Special Adviser to the EVC/CEO, NCC, on Communication and Media. He writes from Abuja.