MTN apologises to customers again, says service outage caused by 3G, 4G technical error

MTN Nigeria Communications Plc has blamed the October 9 sudden service outage on its network on an error that shifted all 4G customers onto the 3G band.

It added that the shift consequently affected the whole network.

The company also announced that its subscribers had been compensated to make up for the inconveniences caused them.

Chief Executive Officer of the company, Olutokun Toriola, again apologised to customers for the inconvenience, disclosing that new measures had also been adopted to prevent reoccurrence.

In a statement at the weekend, Toriola said: “Our technical teams have traced the cause of the problem to an error that shifted all our 4G customers onto the 3G band. This overloaded the 3G band, caused a domino effect that impacted the whole network.

“Our engineers were able to resolve the problem. I know that recently, other technology companies have suffered outages. I want to reassure you that the October 9  event is in no way connected to those. This wasn’t sabotaged, it was a regrettable error.

”On behalf of the entire MTN team, I want to start with a heartfelt apology. We are truly sorry for the disruption this caused for so many in our MTN family.

“We know that millions of people rely on us to stay connected to their loved ones, to manage their businesses, to coordinate their lives. We take that responsibility, and privilege, very seriously.

“That’s why we are putting new measures in place to make sure we never experience anything like last Saturday (October 9) again,”

MTN also said its customers received a refund for the data and airtime that they used between 12noon and 7pm at the weekend.

Toriola added: ”While we can’t give you back the time you lost last Saturday, we can give you back what you spent yesterday. Every customer on the MTN network has received a refund for the data and airtime that they used between 10 am and 3 pm yesterday.

“We hope it shows how much we value our customers. You truly are our most important focus.  We all have challenges, each and every one of us – young or old, personally or professionally.

“What matters is how we respond. “