MTN Nigeria subscribers were left in confusion on Saturday afternoon, following a sudden disconnection that has lasted for over four hours, and yet to be resolved by the telecommunications company.
Goldennews Nigeria detected MTN Nigeria network crashed around 3.00 p.m. MTN users have been unable to access the network for calls or browse, neither can they use it to perform self-service
Note that MTN has over 73.13 million telephone subscribers.
Although, year-to-date, MTN has lost 7.63 million call users (down 9.4 percent), according to Ripples Nigeria market analysis.
While it boasts of 58.59 million data users, having lost 6.76 million subscribers in the last nine months, down 10.3 percent year-to-date amid a high depletion rate and costly data which has been a headache to MTN users.
The sudden disconnection is expected to increase the headache of the telecom’s subscribers, as the telco’s USSD code (*556#), when dialled, informed smartphone subscribers “Not registered on the network,” while users of non-browser phones get “Emergency calls only” on their screen.
The network disconnection has also affected digital banking service, as MTN subscribers can’t perform bank transactions on their phone, stating customers are “Not registered on network.”
The disconnection also affected social media apps, as MTN subscribers in Nigeria couldn’t send or receive WhatsApp and Facebook messages, neither could they use the social networking sites for calls.
In response to the disconnection issue, MTN stated on its Facebook page, “Some of our customers are having difficulty connecting to the network today. We are looking into this.” the network stated.
Subscribers demand compensation from MTN for disrupting businesses
MTN Nigeria customers are not pleased with the apology, as they demanded the network provider compensate them for halting their daily activities which affected business transactions as well.
A Civil Engineering graduate, Ben Okogun, responded to MTN Nigeria’s statement, urging the telco to compensate users, “Millions of money and business opportunities have been lost due to your service outage. I hope you will compensate Nigerians for these losses. Modern society is dependent on mobile connectivities and digital communication. You’re spoiling your customer’s means of likelihood.”
Another user, Blessing Albert, lamented about the poor service, “This network is beginning to irritate me since MTN celebrated their 20yrs anniversary, we don’t see network again. Even the free data they gave us, nobody used it. Nawaooo.”
