Airtel received 228,992 subscriber complaints in the first half of 2026, more than any other Nigerian network, according to Nigerian Communications Commission complaint figures for January to June. MTN logged 124,405, Glo 56,810 and T2 3,885, and the NCC says just over 98% of all complaints in the period were resolved. If you’re one of the people whose complaint didn’t get fixed, you can still complain to NCC directly, and the steps are simpler than most people think.
The numbers matter because they show where problems are piling up. Data depletion alone accounted for 23,396 complaints, and MTN subscribers filed more than half of them, so it helps to know what each network’s figures say before you decide where to take your own complaint.
| Network | Complaints (Jan to Jun 2026) | Data depletion complaints | Resolution rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airtel | 228,992 | 9,806 | 99.38% |
| MTN | 124,405 | 12,212 | 96.57% |
| Glo | 56,810 | 1,373 | 99.04% |
| T2 | 3,885 | 5 | 88.57% |
Why Airtel’s complaint count is so much higher than MTN’s
A big complaint count doesn’t automatically mean a network is the worst to use, because it also reflects how many people bother to report problems and how easy each network makes it to log them. Airtel also resolved 99.38% of its complaints, one of the higher rates in the table. What the figure does tell you is that a very large number of Airtel users hit a problem serious enough to report in six months, and that lines up with the poor-service compensation Airtel has been paying out this year, which we covered in our explainer on why some Airtel lines got airtime for February to April.
MTN’s resolution rate of 96.57% sits below Airtel’s and Glo’s, and with more than 124,000 complaints that gap still leaves thousands of MTN cases that weren’t marked as resolved. T2 had the fewest complaints by far, but it also resolved the smallest share of them, at 88.57%.
Data depletion is still the complaint MTN users can’t shake
Of the 23,396 data depletion complaints recorded across all four networks, 12,212 came from MTN subscribers and 9,806 from Airtel. If your data seems to vanish faster than your usage explains, start by checking your phone’s own data counter under Settings > Network & internet > Data usage (the exact path varies by phone) and compare it with what your network says you’ve used. Background app updates, cloud photo backups and auto-playing videos are the usual culprits, and ruling them out gives you a much stronger case when you complain.
Save screenshots of your balance before and after the drop, along with the time it happened and any SMS your network sent. If the issue is a wrong deduction for a service you didn’t subscribe to, our guide on getting your money back when MTN, Glo or Airtel deducts it wrongly walks through that specific case.
How to complain to NCC when your network won’t fix it
The NCC expects you to go to your network first. According to the Commission’s complaint procedure, you should first complain through your network’s customer care line or at one of its customer care centres, and only escalate if the complaint isn’t satisfactorily resolved. Keep the complaint reference number your network gives you, because it’s the proof that you tried the first step.
If that doesn’t work, you can take it to the NCC through any of these channels:
- Call the toll-free NCC line on 622.
- Submit it through the NCC Consumer Portal.
- Message the NCC’s official Facebook, X or Instagram accounts.
- Write to the Executive Vice Chairman at the NCC head office in Abuja or at one of its zonal offices in Lagos, Ibadan, Kano, Enugu and Port Harcourt.
When you do, include your phone number, your network, the date the problem started, your network’s complaint reference and the screenshots you saved. The NCC handles these cases under its Quality of Service Business Rules 2024 and the Consumer Code of Practice Regulations 2024, and the Commission has said the complaint data gives it insight into “non-adherence to regulatory obligations, and the responsiveness of service providers”.
If your problem is really poor coverage rather than a billing issue, switching might be the quicker fix, and our guide on porting your number to another network explains how to keep your line while you do it. For everything else, complaining to your network first and then to the NCC with your evidence in hand is the route most likely to get a result.
