Airtel Nigeria has opened up its network infrastructure to customers, allowing them to check active sites, track ongoing upgrades and view planned deployments, while giving them a direct channel to report poor service.
The initiative, known as Airtel Open Network, is available through theMy Airtel app, which ensures subscribers can seamlessly report poor voice calls, slow internet speeds, loss of connectivity and buffering videos.
Speaking at the launch, Dr Aminu Maida, executive vice-chairman and chief executive officer of the NCC, commended Airtel for introducing the initiative but stressed that its success would depend on how effectively the company responds to customer complaints.
“Ultimately, customers will judge this initiative by how useful it is to them, whether they can understand what is happening, get help when service falls short, and see improvements over time,” Maida said.
He added that the initiative aligns with the commission’s goal to ensure greater transparency in telecoms service delivery, including its work on public coverage maps, consumer satisfaction surveys and independent measurements of network performance.
The platform enables subscribers to go beyond the limit of seeing just a network signal on their phones, providing information about nearby sites, their operating status and, where available, the expected timing of planned deployments.
The map distinguishes between active sites, sites undergoing upgrades and planned sites. Customers can also submit reports about their network experience, indicating where a problem occurs, how long it has continued, whether it happens indoors or outdoors, and whether it is continuous or limited to particular periods.
The information is intended to give Airtel’s technical teams a clearer starting point for investigating complaints than a general report of poor service through a call center.
Dinesh Balsingh, managing director and chief executive officer of Airtel Nigeria, said the company had spent between six months and a year developing the initiative, which is intended to give customers better visibility into its network and a more direct way to communicate service problems.
“Open Network is designed to give customers greater visibility into the network and a visual channel through which they can share feedback about that experience. We want to listen better. We want to understand problems more precisely, and we want to direct our efforts to make the greatest difference,”Balsingh said.
Dinesh Balsingh, Airtel Nigeria MD/CEO and Dr Aminu Maida, EVC/CEO, NCC with Influencers at the launch of Airtel Open Network
He explained that complaints received through conventional customer service channels do not always provide enough detail to identify the
A subscriber reporting a failed call or slow internet connection may not provide the precise location, timing or circumstances needed to establish whether the problem relates to a particular network site, an outage or a capacity limitation.
The new platform collects more specific information to help engineers investigate the reported experience and determine the appropriate response.
According to Airtel, the reports would be assessed alongside existing network data and operational information, and depending on the findings, the response could involve resolving a temporary outage, optimizing an existing site, increasing network capacity, upgrading technology or planning additional infrastructure.
Balsingh said customer feedback would also help the company assess whether its existing network investment plans address the areas where subscribers experience difficulties.
He acknowledged that the platform would not automatically repair faulty sites or eliminate every service problem. Instead, it is intended to improve the information available to the teams responsible for diagnosing and resolving them.
NCC warns that network coverage maps must show local experience
While welcoming the initiative, Maida endorsed that the availability of network infrastructure does not necessarily guarantee a reliable connection or a particular internet speed.
Network congestion, transmission limitations and other technical factors can affect the service customers receive, even when a network site is nearby.
He urged Airtel to ensure that the information displayed on the platform is accurate, understandable and regularly updated, allowing customers to distinguish between infrastructure already providing service, ongoing upgrades and future deployments.
He also called for clear communication about what the information means for subscribers, warning that broad coverage assessments can conceal problems affecting particular locations.
“Sometimes a high level of granularity can hide localized issues,”Maida said, urging Airtel to investigate smaller areas even when broader coverage indicators suggest satisfactory performance.
The NCC chief executive also stressed that customers who report problems should receive acknowledgment, understandable explanations and updates on the action being taken. Where a problem cannot be resolved immediately, he said subscribers should be informed about the next steps and indicative timeframes.
He further encouraged Airtel to provide alternative channels for customers who cannot access the platform and to handle personal and location information responsibly.
The commission, he said, would continue to assess service quality against applicable standards while encouraging operators to improve beyond minimum regulatory requirements, particularly in communities experiencing persistent problems.
Airtel reports 55% growth in data traffic
The launch comes as Airtel reports a significant increase in network usage and continued investment in infrastructure.
Balsingh said the company’s data traffic had increased by about 55% compared with the previous year, based on figures reported for the quarter under discussion.
Over the preceding three years, Airtel increased its network site count from approximately 13,700 to more than 17,143, representing an addition of 3,424 sites, according to the CEO.
He said the company had expanded its 4G network to cover 99% of its network footprint, while deploying more than 1,000 5G sites in 2026 alone.
Airtel also reported that it had deployed about 3,649 kilometers of fiber and relocated 3,031 kilometers of damaged fiber over the preceding 18 months.
Balsingh said the company’s capital expenditure for the first nine months of 2026 had increased by 84% compared with the corresponding period in 2025.
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Tags:Airtel Nigeria Open Network, Airtel network map, Airtel My Airtel app, Airtel network upgrades, report poor network service, NCC network transparency, Airtel 5G sites, Nigerian telecoms
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