The Nigerian Communications Commission is empowered to establish minimum Quality of Service (QoS) standards in service delivery for the telecommunications industry.
These QoS standards ensure that consumers continue to have access to high quality telecommunications service by setting basic minimum quality levels for all operators.
These standards define the lower and upper bounds of acceptability of such technical issues as transmission rates, error rates, call completion rates, etc. and commercial consumer issues such as access to customer care centres, billing integrity and other characteristics that can be measured and improved.
As a result, every mobile operator must report to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) at the specified frequency in the year. Each operator must note the following:
- The reporting frequency shall be Quarterly. The report for the preceding quarter must arrive at the NCC (Abuja Office) at most by 15th of the first month of each quarter.
- The report shall be in both hard copy and editable electronic (MS Word / Excel) versions in the format provided by the NCC and using the format provided, each operator must provide the reports on the following basis:
- A National Report (covering the nation-wide network services).
- Regional Reports (preferably using the six geo-political zones).
- Urban Area Reports for Lagos, Aba, Abuja, Kano, Benin City, Maiduguri, and Port-Harcourt cities only.
QoS Metrics & Definitions
The following are the metrics and their definitions for measuring Quality of Service (QoS).
Call Completion Rate (CCR)
The ratio of successfully completed calls to the total number of attempted calls (ITU-T E600/2.13). That is, the ratio of the number of completed call attempts to the total number of call attempts, at a given point of a network. See example here.
| Note: | This ratio is typically expressed as either a percentage or a decimal fraction. It is the number of calls of specific duration successfully completed; measured per 100 calls. |
| Note: | A complete call is a call that is released by normal call clearing (i.e. Released Message "RL_M" and Released Complete Message “RLC_M” has been successfully exchanged in the signaling flow), be it during a ringing phase or conversation phase by either the caller or called party. |
Answer Seizure Ratio (ASR)
The ratio of the number of successful calls over the total number of outgoing calls from a carrier’s network (i.e. On a route or a Destination Point Code (DPC) basis, and during a specified time interval, the ratio of the number of seizures that result in an answer signal to the total number of seizures: ITU-T E600/2.14).
| Note: | ASR is line seizures that are answered by person or device divided by total number of seizures. |
| Note: | Seizure is achieved after a successful “Call setup”. It means seizing a trunk circuit for conversation or other network services. In GSM network, it refers to seizing a Traffic Channel (TCH) after a successful “Call setup”. |
| Note: | A successful call is a call that is answered by a called party or machine (e.g., fax machine, answering machine, e.t.c.). |
Call Setup Success Rate (CSSR)
Number of the unblocked call attempts divided by the total number of call attempts.
Or (1 - Blocking Probability) x 100%
| Note: | A call setup is an exchange of signaling information in the call process that leads to Traffic Channel (TCH) seizure. |
Dropped Call Rate (DCR)
The Dropped Call Rate (sometimes called Call Drop Rate) is the number of dropped calls divided by the total number of call attempts.
Or (1 - Call Completion Ratio) x 100%
| Note: | A dropped call is a call that is prematurely terminated before being released normally by either the caller or called party (i.e., the call is dropped before the exchange of Released Message “RL_M” and Released Complete Message “RLC_M” in the signaling flow). See example here. |
Post Dialing Delay
In GSM network, is the average time between pressing send button (after pressing correct digits) and getting a ring back tone. This is also called “Call Setup Time” or time to connect a call.
Handover Success Rate (HOSR)
This is the ratio of the number of successfully completed handovers to the total number of initiated handovers. This ratio can be expressed as a percentage.
Bit Error Rate (BER) Per Link
The link Bit Error Rate (BER) refers to the average bit error rate on the MSC-PSTN link, Inter MSC link, A-Interface and Abis-Interface. This parameter should not deteriorate above 10-9.
The End-to-End Bit Error Rate
This refers to the average end-to-end bit error rate. This parameter should not deteriorate above 10-6.
Busy Hour Traffic Channel Congestion (%)
This is the percentage congestion of the TCH measured at the busy hour and is given by:
× 100
% of Failures for Credit Balance Inquiry
This is the ratio of the number of failures of credit balance inquiry to the total number of credit balance inquiry expressed as a percentage at some instant on the network. This parameter is for a prepaid subscriber.
× 100
Minimum Data Rate
This is the minimum TCH encoding rate for data (Half-Rate channel, 4.8kbps: GSM Specification 06.20).
Minimum Speech Rate
This is the minimum TCH encoding rate for speech (Half-Rate channel, 6.5kbps: GSM Specification 06.20).
% of SMS-MMS Delivery Failures
This is the ratio of SMS/MMS to the recipients undelivered to the total number of SMS/MMS received at the Service Center within specified period of 10 days.
× 100
% of SMS/MMS Incorrect Feedback
This is the ratio of the number of SMS/MMS transmitted in which the sender received wrong feedback to the total number of SMS/MMS received at the Service Center at some instant on the network.
× 100
% of SMS/MMS Multiple Billing
This is the ratio of the number of SMS/MMS messages in which more than one charges are applied per message to the total number of SMS/MMS received at the Service Center at some instant on the network.
× 100
Number of Customers Satisfaction Index
This is the percentage of the number of customers satisfied with the services of an operator in randomly distributed samples of customers.
Speed of Problem Resolution
% cleared same day
This is the percentage of the number of problems resolved on the day they were received.Number resolved problems in day oneTotal number of problems received on that day× 100
% in two days
This is the percentage of the number of problems resolved within the second day they were received.Number resolved problems in day one and twoTotal number of problems received on day one× 100
% cleared in three days and above
This is the percentage of the number of problems resolved within three days and above to the day they were received.Number resolved problems in day 1, 2, 3 and aboveTotal number of problems received on day one× 100
Billing Integrity
- % of total bills overcharged
This parameter is the percentage of the number of Post-Paid accounts that are overcharged within a particular month. - % of incorrect credit balance
This parameter is the percentage of number of Pre-Paid accounts that suffer incorrect credit balance within a particular month. - % of failures for Credit Balance Inquiry
This is the ratio of the number of failures of credit balance inquiry to the total number of credit balance inquiry expressed as a percentage at some instant on the network. This parameter is for prepaid subscribers.
Customer Care Accessibility
- 100% Call Completion Rate
This means that all calls to the center must be answered by a customer care personnel or a machine to put a customer on hold for sometime (the line must never be busy at any time). Alternatively, all calls to the center must go through. - Minutes a customer spends on the queue
This is the average time in minutes a customer is expected to spend on customer care center queue.
Customer Interface Points
- Number of Interface points
This is an office where a customer can go to lodge complaints. This is in addition to customer care centers. - Minutes a customer spends on the queue
This is the average time in minutes a customer is expected to spend on customer interface point queue before being attended to by a staff.
Recharge Cards
% of Recharge Cards Loading Errors
This is the ratio of the number of times Recharge Card loading failed to the total number of loading attempts at some instant on the network expressed as a percentage.Number resolved problems in day oneTotal number of problems received on that day× 100
% of Recharge Cards loading incorrect feedback
This is the ratio of the number of times an incorrect feedback is received during Calling Card / voucher loading to the total number of loading attempts expressed as a percentage.Number of incorrect feedback received during voucher loadingTotal Number of loading attempts× 100
Commercial Benchmarks
Technical Benchmarks
The following Commercial (i.e. Customer Experience) Quality of Service (QoS) indicators for Mobile Services define the minimum QoS benchmarks for all GSM mobile operators' services licensed by the Nigerian Communications Commission.
| Complaints | Value |
| Customer Complaints per 100 Customers | = 5 |
| Customer Satisfaction Index | 98% |
| Speed of Problem Resolution | Value |
| % Cleared on Same Day | > 90% |
| % Cleared in 2 Days | > 95% |
| % Cleared in 3 Days & Above | 100% |
| Billing Integrity | Value |
| % of Total Bills Overcharged | < 0.5% |
| % of Incorrect Credit Balance | < 0.5% |
| % of Failures for Credit Balance Inquiry | < 1% |
| Customer Care | Value |
| Call Completion Rate | 100% |
| Minutes a Customer spends on Queue; | There must be a repeated announcement at every two-minute interval. |
| Customer Interface | Value |
| Number of Interface Points | Number should be tied to subscriber base. |
| Minutes a Customer spends on Queue; | 10 mins |
| Recharge Cards | Value |
| % of Recharge Card Loading Errors | < 0.02% |
| % of Recharge Card Loading Incorrect Feedback | < 0.02% |
The following technical Quality of Service (QoS) indicators for Mobile Services define the minimum QoS benchmarks for all GSM mobile operators' services licensed by the Nigerian Communications Commission.
| Internetwork | |||||
| Indicator | Intranetwork | PLMN | PTO | PSTN | International |
| Call Setup Success Rate (%) | = 90% | ||||
| Handover Success Rate (%) | = 90% | ||||
| Call Drop Rate (%) | = 2% | ||||
| Post Dialing Delay(s) | < 5 secs | < 10 secs | < 10 secs | < 10 secs | < 13 secs |
| |||||
| Transmission Impairment | Value |
| Bit Error Rate (BER) per Link | = 1 × 10-9 |
| End-to-End Error Rate | = 1 × 10-6 |
| Other Network Measures | Value | |
| Voice Quality Impairment | < 2% | |
| Answer Seizure Ratio (ASR) | Intranetwork | = 50% |
| Internetwork | = 45% | |
| Call Completion Rate (CCR) % | = 90% | |
| Busy Hour BSC Traffic Channel (TCH) Congestion (%) | =10% | |
| Minimum Data Encoding Rate | Half-Rate | |
| Minimum Speech Encoding Rate | Half-Rate | |
| Value Added Services KPIs (SMS & MMS) | Value |
| % of SMS/MMS Delivery Failures | < 0.2% |
| % of SMS/MMS Incorrect Feedback | < 0.2% |
| % of SMS/MMS Multiple Billing | < 0.01% |
Speech quality is a complex psycho-acoustic phenomenon within the process of perception. As such, it is necessarily subjective (i.e., Every person interprets speech quality in a different way).
Nevertheless, if speech quality is to be quantified and measured automatically, the dependence on individual opinion must be eliminated. Therefore speech quality is generally expressed as a Mean Opinion Score (MOS). Speech quality measurements provide a measurement basis in order to specify the requirements that network operators have to fulfill.
Methods for evaluating speech quality are two: Subjective method and Objective. The “Subjective method” makes use of a listener panel to assess speech quality. Speech quality is expressed as MOS, which is average speech quality perceived by the members of the panel.
The “Objective method” however replaced the listener panel by an algorithm to compute MOS value from a speech samples. The Commission expect all Operators to use the “Objective method” (where equipment available) of measurement because it is in good agreement with “exact” speech quality, it is automatic and has easily reproducible result.
The speech quality can be transformed by appropriate statistical methods to a scale as in the table below.
| Sample Quality | Score | Remarks |
| Excellent | 5 | These samples result to excellent speech quality. |
| Good | 4 | |
| Fair | 3 | |
| Poor | 2 | These samples result to poor speech quality |
| Bad | 1 | These samples results to noise only (no speech is heard at the receiver) |
The table below gives the benchmarking for the speech quality adopted by the Commission using the scale in the table above. A Voice Quality Impairment of less than 2%, means that the total number of “Bad Speech” Samples (resulting in only noise) throughout entire conversation must not be up to 2%. This means that the entire conversation must result to predominantly “Excellent and Good” speech Samples.
| Sample Quality | Score | Benchmarks* | Remarks |
| Excellent | 5 | > 80% | |
| Good | 4 | < 20% | |
| Fair | 3 | < 5% | |
| Poor | 2 | < 3% | |
| Bad | 1 | < 2% | The % of samples that result in totally impaired voice message (unrecognized) should be < 2. |
* (% of Received Samples)
QoS Benchmarks for Mobile Services
Commercial Benchmarks
The following Commercial (i.e. Customer Experience) Quality of Service (QoS) indicators for Mobile Services define the minimum QoS benchmarks for all GSM mobile operators' services licensed by the Nigerian Communications Commission.
| Complaints | Value |
| Customer Complaints per 100 Customers | = 5 |
| Customer Satisfaction Index | 98% |
| Speed of Problem Resolution | Value |
| % Cleared on Same Day | > 90% |
| % Cleared in 2 Days | > 95% |
| % Cleared in 3 Days & Above | 100% |
| Billing Integrity | Value |
| % of Total Bills Overcharged | < 0.5% |
| % of Incorrect Credit Balance | < 0.5% |
| % of Failures for Credit Balance Inquiry | < 1% |
| Customer Care | Value |
| Call Completion Rate | 100% |
| Minutes a Customer spends on Queue; | There must be a repeated announcement at every two-minute interval. |
| Customer Interface | Value |
| Number of Interface Points | Number should be tied to subscriber base. |
| Minutes a Customer spends on Queue; | 10 mins |
| Recharge Cards | Value |
| % of Recharge Card Loading Errors | < 0.02% |
| % of Recharge Card Loading Incorrect Feedback | < 0.02% |
Technical Benchmarks
The following technical Quality of Service (QoS) indicators for Mobile Services define the minimum QoS benchmarks for all GSM mobile operators' services licensed by the Nigerian Communications Commission.
| Internetwork | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indicator | Intranetwork | PLMN | PTO | PSTN | International |
| Call Setup Success Rate (%) | = 90% | ||||
| Handover Success Rate (%) | = 90% | ||||
| Call Drop Rate (%) | = 2% | ||||
| Post Dialing Delay(s) | < 5 secs | < 10 secs | < 10 secs | < 10 secs | < 13 secs |
| |||||
| Transmission Impairment | Value |
|---|---|
| Bit Error Rate (BER) per Link | = 1 × 10-9 |
| End-to-End Error Rate | = 1 × 10-6 |
| Other Network Measures | Value | |
|---|---|---|
| Voice Quality Impairment | < 2% | |
| Answer Seizure Ratio (ASR) | Intranetwork | = 50% |
| Internetwork | = 45% | |
| Call Completion Rate (CCR) % | = 90% | |
| Busy Hour BSC Traffic Channel (TCH) Congestion (%) | =10% | |
| Minimum Data Encoding Rate | Half-Rate | |
| Minimum Speech Encoding Rate | Half-Rate | |
| Value Added Services KPIs (SMS & MMS) | Value |
|---|---|
| % of SMS/MMS Delivery Failures | < 0.2% |
| % of SMS/MMS Incorrect Feedback | < 0.2% |
| % of SMS/MMS Multiple Billing | < 0.01% |
Measuring Voice Quality
Speech quality is a complex psycho-acoustic phenomenon within the process of perception. As such, it is necessarily subjective (i.e., Every person interprets speech quality in a different way).
Nevertheless, if speech quality is to be quantified and measured automatically, the dependence on individual opinion must be eliminated. Therefore speech quality is generally expressed as a Mean Opinion Score (MOS). Speech quality measurements provide a measurement basis in order to specify the requirements that network operators have to fulfill.
Methods for evaluating speech quality are two: Subjective method and Objective. The “Subjective method” makes use of a listener panel to assess speech quality. Speech quality is expressed as MOS, which is average speech quality perceived by the members of the panel.
The “Objective method” however replaced the listener panel by an algorithm to compute MOS value from a speech samples. The Commission expect all Operators to use the “Objective method” (where equipment available) of measurement because it is in good agreement with “exact” speech quality, it is automatic and has easily reproducible result.
The speech quality can be transformed by appropriate statistical methods to a scale as in the table below.
| Sample Quality | Score | Remarks |
| Excellent | 5 | These samples result to excellent speech quality. |
| Good | 4 | |
| Fair | 3 | |
| Poor | 2 | These samples result to poor speech quality |
| Bad | 1 | These samples results to noise only (no speech is heard at the receiver) |
The table below gives the benchmarking for the speech quality adopted by the Commission using the scale in the table above. A Voice Quality Impairment of less than 2%, means that the total number of “Bad Speech” Samples (resulting in only noise) throughout entire conversation must not be up to 2%. This means that the entire conversation must result to predominantly “Excellent and Good” speech Samples.
| Sample Quality | Score | * | Remarks |
| Excellent | 5 | > 80% | |
| Good | 4 | < 20% | |
| Fair | 3 | < 5% | |
| Poor | 2 | < 3% | |
| Bad | 1 | < 2% | The % of samples that result in totally impaired voice message (unrecognized) should be < 2. |
* (% of Received Samples)