Mobile operator Celtel Nigeria announced this weekend its readiness to compensate subscribers in accordance with the recent directive from the Nigerian Communications Commission.

The initial phase of payments began last Thursday, and the company will continue to dole out the N175 (about US$1.48) worth of airtime as compensation to customers, said Celtel Nigeria Public Relations Manager Emmanuel Otokhine in a press statement.

The compensation plan was released by the company in May, outlining that subscribers as of Jan. 31 will receive airtime over the course of several weeks, with all customers receiving compensation by Aug. 15.

The objective of the plan is to sustain the integrity of the network, said Bayo Ligali, chief executive of Celtel Nigeria. He explained that staggering the payments will ensure that quality of service is not compromised by customers using the free airtime simultaneously.

Ligali expressed his regret for past quality of service issues and thanked the company's 14 million-plus customers for their patience and understanding.

"I make bold to say that we have significantly boosted the robustness of our network," he assured, "with massive generator swap outs, capacity enhancement and coverage expansion projects."

Later this year, he added, Celtel's $1 billion aggressive network rollout plan - buoyed by the nationwide fiber-optic transmission backbone - will provide for world-class operations.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.