Airtel Nigeria has launched an Open Network initiative that may permit subscribers to view community infrastructure round their places, monitor the standing of community websites and report service quality issues immediately by the MyAirtel app.
The initiative goals to enhance transparency, strengthen buyer engagement, and assist the telecommunications operator establish community issues extra precisely by gathering location-specific suggestions from subscribers.
Airtel Nigeria’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dinesh Balsingh, introduced the initiative on Friday in Lagos, describing it as a technology-driven strategy to enhancing the corporate’s understanding of buyer experiences and directing community investments to areas with the best wants.
Airtel clients to see community standing
He stated the characteristic would give clients better visibility into the community and supply a digital channel by which they’ll share details about their service experiences.
According to Balsingh, the initiative recognises the rising dependence of Nigerians on cellular connectivity for enterprise transactions, training, communication and different on a regular basis actions.
- “Open Network is designed to give customers greater visibility into the network and a visual channel through which they can share data about their experience. We want to listen better, understand problems more precisely and direct our efforts to meet the greatest needs,” he stated.
He defined that the platform would offer extra detailed details about the place clients expertise service challenges, serving to Airtel’s technical groups examine complaints and establish acceptable interventions.
How the Airtel Open Network platform works
The Open Network characteristic is accessible by the MyAirtel app, the place subscribers can view community websites inside their places and establish their operational standing.
After opening the app, clients can entry the characteristic by the Quick Actions part on the house display screen. The platform could request permission to entry their location to show close by community infrastructure.
The interface makes use of a colour-coded system to distinguish between completely different classes of community websites.
Red signifies energetic community websites presently serving places, whereas blue represents energetic websites present process upgrades. Black identifies deliberate community websites which are but to turn into operational.
- Customers can choose particular person websites to view extra info, together with web site identification numbers, community know-how, similar to 4G or 5G, and the standing of ongoing upgrades.
- For websites present process upgrades, the platform offers info on the character of the work, together with capability growth or migration to 5G, in addition to the progress made.
- The platform additionally permits subscribers to swap between map and satellite tv for pc views to establish community infrastructure round their places.
- Beyond viewing community info, clients can report service issues by the suggestions part, which directs them to Airtel Assist.
Subscribers can choose the kind of problem they’re experiencing, together with poor voice name quality, sluggish web speeds, lack of web entry and video buffering.
They are additionally required to present particulars such because the affected cellphone quantity, whether or not the issue happens indoors or open air, how lengthy it has persevered and whether or not it occurs at particular instances or repeatedly.
Airtel stated its technical groups would assess the submitted suggestions and use the knowledge to enhance community efficiency.
NCC seeks transparency and accountability from Airtel
Speaking on the launch, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr Aminu Maida, welcomed the initiative, describing it as according to the regulator’s rising emphasis on transparency and shopper empowerment within the telecommunications business.
Maida stated Nigerians deserved dependable connectivity due to their growing dependence on telecommunications providers for enterprise, training and communication.
He famous that whereas operators incessantly announce investments in new community websites and extra capability, subscribers are extra involved about when such investments would translate into improved providers of their respective places.
According to him, higher entry to community info may assist bridge the hole between operators’ infrastructure investments and clients’ expectations.
- “Transparency should help consumers understand the service available to them, report problems and see what actions follow,” he stated.
The NCC boss, nevertheless, cautioned that the presence of a community web site shut to a subscriber’s location doesn’t routinely assure dependable connectivity or improved web speeds.
He defined that community efficiency may be affected by congestion, transmission constraints and different technical components.
What it is best to know
Airtel’s Open Network launch comes amid continued issues about telecommunications service quality in Nigeria, with operators underneath stress to enhance community efficiency as demand for cellular voice and knowledge providers will increase.
Just final week, the House of Representatives directed chief executive officers of telecommunications companies in Nigeria to appear before it to clarify the persistent decline in service quality, warning that those that fail to comply may face arrest.
The summons adopted earlier issues over poor community quality, regardless of infrastructure investments and regulatory measures aimed toward enhancing service supply and defending subscribers.
Nairametrics reported that telecommunications operators had invested greater than N2.5 trillion in community infrastructure in 2025 to improve community quality. However, persistent fibre cuts and tools vandalism throughout the nation proceed to pose challenges.
