CUSTOMER SATISFACTION OF

MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS
SERVICES IN NIGERIA

Philip Ezekiel Chibueze

MARCH, 2018
 CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

From time immemorial, information and communications have always formed the basis of

human existence This fact has driven man to continuously seek ways to improve the processing

or information and communicating such information to one another, irrespective of distance and

on a timely basis. Access to telecommunications is therefore critical to the development of all

aspects of a nation economy including manufacturing, banking, education, agriculture and

government. However, since the advent of Mobile Telecommunication services in Nigeria there

has been complains from all angles on the quality of services being provided by

telecommunication industry. Conversely, in modern business philosophy business should be

customer oriented and the implementation of the main principles of continuous improvement,

justifies the importance of evaluating and analyzing customer satisfaction. In short, customer

satisfaction is considered as baseline of standardize and excellence of performance for many

business. It also helps to identify the potential market opportunities. (Evangelos & Yannis 2010)

Customer satisfaction makes the customers loyal to one telecommunication service provider.

Customer satisfaction generally means the individual’s perception, judgment of the performance

of the product or service in relation to his or her expectation. Apart from satisfaction as indicator

of quality of life, firms have linked satisfaction to loyalty and profit. Customer satisfaction is the

individual’s perception of the performance of the product or service in relation to his or her

expectation (Schiffman & Kanuk, 2009); comparative feelings of pleasure or disappointment

(Kotler & Keller, 2006); measure of difference between perceived service cost and expected
service benefit; customer’s evaluation of need met expectation (Zeithaml & Bitner, 2000);

customer’s fulfillment response and emotional reaction following a disconfirmation experience

(Oliver ,1997). Satisfaction is both pre and post-consumption experience which compares

perceived quality with expected quality. Pre-consumption and cognitive perception involves

latent feeling satisfaction when contrast with manifest satisfaction. Satisfaction is conceptualized

as an attitude like judgment, comparison, psychological feeling before, after a purchase, or an

interaction with a service provider (Fourner & Mick, 1999).

Any business is likely to lose market share, customers and investors if it fails to satisfy

customers as effectively and efficiently as its competitors is doing (Anderson et al., 2004). It is a

common phenomenon that the services a network offers and the price it charges actually

determine the level of satisfaction among its customers, than any other measure (Turel et al.

2006). According to Adepoju & Suraju (2012) service quality, customer satisfaction, and

corporate image are important determinants of customer satisfaction and loyalty in the Nigeria's

GSM market whereas the price/tariff is not deemed to be a determinant of customer satisfaction

and loyalty in the Telecommunication industry.

Nigeria is a country with a huge investment in telecommunication industry with a quite number

of service providers and millions of subscribers. Nigerian mobile subscribers still groan under

the poor performance in service delivery by the four telecommunications service providers in the

Country. In an article by Famutimi (2004), it was reported that the Director of Public Affairs of

the Nigerian Communications Commission; the regulatory authority overseeing the

telecommunications sector, asserts that the service providers are seriously lagging in meeting the

required performance index set by the commission and further encourage the consumers to take

service providers to court on account of flouting required regulations.

It is essentially imperative that customer satisfaction is a concern for any businesses throughout

the world. Service quality, Customer care and customer satisfaction are widely recognized as

key influences in the formation of customers purchase intentions in service environment.

It is quite obvious and certain that if the level of quality of services offered among customers is

high will lead to the increase in loyalty towards the service provider. Service quality is

considered as one of the top priorities of firms at the present time because it gives the company a

competitive advantage, helps sustain growth and increases efficiency. Hence, service providers

need to form a continuous lasting relationship with their customers to know them better and

satisfy their needs adequately. These days’ customers expect higher quality services which puts

pressure on businesses to have a better understanding and measurement of service quality. It is

against this back drop that this study intends to examine the level of customer satisfaction of

mobile telecommunication services. The study will also investigate the extent mobile

telecommunication services have met customer expectations in Nigeria.

1.2 Statement of the problem

The telecommunication industry in Nigeria has witnessed organizational inadequacies arising

from the inadequate infrastructures couple with unstable power supply and high cost of materials

which are having direct bearing on their operations and hampering the successful attainment of

organizational goals, which lead to customers complain on the service quality that prompt

research in to the field. The regulatory body has outlined goals to be achieved by GSM operators

but have only been partly met especially with respect to the transmission of mobile

communication services in rural areas, and the quality of service. The internal and external

environmental factors have also pose as a challenge to both mobile telecommunication services

and customer satisfaction in Nigeria. These include poor service quality, lack of wide coverage
and exploitative tendency of mobile telecommunication networks through excessive billing and

inconsistent charges resulting to series of customer complaints and general dissatisfaction. Based

on the challenges aforementioned effecting the service quality of the mobile telecommunication

operators in Nigeria, this study intends to examine the level of customer satisfaction of mobile

telecommunication service, by means of two major identified factors that affect mobile

telecommunication services namely; quality service and customer care service. It is plausibly to

note also that the state of customer satisfaction with service delivery is not clear as there is

scanty documentation of the issue.

Therefore, this study is propelled by the need to empirically measure customer satisfaction with

service delivery of mobile telecommunication operators in Nigeria.

1.3 Research Questions

1. What is the relationship between service quality and customers satisfaction of mobile

telecommunication provider in Nigeria?

2. What is the relationship between customer care services and customers satisfaction of

mobile telecommunication provider in Nigeria?

3. To what extent have mobile telecommunication service providers met customer

expectation?

1.4 Objective of the Study

The broad objective of this research work is to examine the level of customer satisfaction of

mobile telecommunication service providers in Nigeria while the specific objectives are to:
 1. To examine the effect of service quality on customer satisfaction of mobile

telecommunication providers in Nigeria.

2. To examine the effect of customer care services on customer satisfaction of

telecommunication providers in Nigeria.

3. To examine the extent mobile telecommunication service providers have met customer

satisfaction.

1.5 Hypothesis

In order to check the relationship between the independent and dependent variables, two

hypotheses were developed.

H1: There is no positive significant relationship between service quality and customer

satisfaction of mobile telecommunication provider in Nigeria.

H2: There is no positive significant relationship between good customer service and

customers satisfaction of mobile telecommunication provider in Nigeria.

1.6 Significance of Study

Professionally, this study will be of immense importance mobile telecommunication operators in

the country as it will help them to know the perception of customer satisfaction about their

telecommunication services. Academically, it is hoped that this research will not only serve as an

invaluable literature for further researchers but also generate ideas which will have policy
implication for the telecommunication industry in Nigeria. It is therefore worthwhile to fill the

literature gap by examining customer satisfaction with telecommunications services in Nigeria

1.7 Scope of Study

The scope of this study is primarily centered on the customer satisfaction with service quality

and customer care service of mobile telecommunication service providers in Nigeria and it will

examine the extent customer expectation have met customer satisfaction. The study covered

GSM subscribers of four telecommunications service providers - MTN, GLO, AIRTEL, and 9

Mobile in Kano state, which is the second largest populated state in Nigeria according the

National Population Commission report in 2006. The region has high commercial activities upon

which these GSM companies compete for favourable consumer patronage and loyalty.

1.8 Definition of key term

Satisfaction: combination of psychological, physiological and environmental circumstances that

cause a person truthfully to say I am satisfied with my job.

Customer service is a system of activities that comprises customer support systems, complaint

processing, speed of complaint processing, ease of reporting complaint and friendliness when

reporting complaint.

GSM: This is an acronym which stands for Global System for Mobile Communications

developed as a standard set by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to

describe technologies for second generation (2G) digital cellular networks.

Customer is a person or organizational unit that plays a role in the consummation of a

transaction with the marketer or an entity',

Customer satisfaction is defined as an "evaluation of the perceived discrepancy between prior

expectations and the actual performance of the product"

Service quality is defined as the difference between customer expectations and perceptions of

service or “as the customers’ satisfaction or dissatisfaction formed by their experience of

purchase and use of the service.