Telecom infrastructure is certainly a critical national asset and should be protected from vandalism.
However, engineers at Enextgen Wireless, an engineering company that focuses on improving user experience in Mobile Broadband Wireless Communications, believe that tampering with a cell site in Maiduguri should not cause a call to drop in Yaba, Lagos or vice-versa.
In fact, they have communicated this to the industry regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
In fact, Enextgen Wireless is of the view that some MNOs are deploying propaganda machine to confuse the subscribers who, in many occasions, do not receive value for money paid.
“Use our platform or come up with similar platform to monitor mobile networks instead of making assumptions or repeating the propaganda of the MNOs”, the company wrote in a report obtained by Techeconomy.
In the report, the engineers showed examples of call drops from Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja.
“Those from Lagos and Port Harcourt were due to missing handoffs. Sure, these could be due to cable cuts. However, they appear often enough in MTN’s network that they should reflect on the KPIs published for MTN by NCC. They don’t. Those from MTN’s 5G in Abuja occurred at a stationary location”.
“The government should stop blaming the public for vandalism being the primary cause of poor network quality, in lieu of holding MNOs accountable.
“If vandalism is truly the cause of all mobile network quality issues, let the reports published by the NCC reflect the resulting network degradation”, the report reads in part.
Lagos, December 10, 2023
Radio Link Failures, 4G LTE
Enextgen’s estimated Connection Drop Rate is 5.16%
Handoffs, 4G LTE
Enextgen Wireless said the radio link failures occurred where there were no handoffs.
Packet latency, 4G LTE
Enextgen estimated connection setup failure rate is 0%
Port Harcourt, December 10, 2023
Radio Link Failures, 4G LTE
The estimated connection drop rate is 16.45%
Handoffs, 4G LTE
“Where there were no handoffs, Radio Link Failures that occurred can be attributed to the lack of handoffs . Most of the drops or Radio Link Failures in this case were due to lack of handoffs”, the report reads.
Packet latency, 4G LTE
The estimated connection setup failure rate is 0.45%
Abuja, December 10, 2023
Radio Link Failures, 5G NR
“The estimated connection drop rate is 5.22%”.
“All drops occurred at the same location”, the report says.
Handoffs, 5G NR
All expected handoffs occurred. The drops were all at one stationary location
Packet latency, 5G NR
The researchers estimated connection setup failure rate is at 0.07%
In conclusion, Enextgen Wireless had published analysis of a scenario similar to the ones shown in this report earlier.
“We have made presentation to the NCC on how to encourage MNOs to provide higher quality network and be more accountable to the public.
“We have shared evidence contradicting claims by both MTN and Airtel that they had deployed VoLTE nationwide at the time they made the claim.
“We have shared evidence contradicting Airtel’s claim of activating 4G LTE on all of its 3G sites”.
To view information on mobile broadband networks in areas they have covered, visit Enextgen Wireless here or send e-mail to: info@enextwireless.com.
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