Airtel users fume over connectivity failures

By Ejire Folakunmi

Airtel subscribers in Nigeria, India, Kenya, and Uganda endured a weekend of dropped calls, stalled internet, and dead AirFiber units, triggering a wave of complaints that the telco has yet to publicly explain.

The problems started on Friday, April 24, 2026. In Nigeria, users reported data speeds crashing to around 200 kbps, too slow for banking apps, video calls, or even loading email.

By Saturday, timelines were flooded with screenshots of speed tests and failed transactions.

In India, the blow landed hardest on remote workers. Several AirFiber subscribers said their units failed repeatedly, with some claiming technicians replaced the same device three times without fixing the issue.

Others flagged late-payment penalties hitting their accounts while the service was down, plus long delays in getting equipment moved to new addresses.

Airtel’s support accounts responded to individual complaints asking for device details, but the company has not issued a general outage notice.

Downdetector showed no single global spike, which points to scattered regional faults rather than one total blackout. Industry watchers say the pattern looks like local maintenance work or congestion, not a core network collapse.

For many customers, though, the distinction doesn’t matter. A 48-hour outage cuts into income for freelancers, online vendors, and gig workers who depend on stable connections.

In Nigeria, where weekend social commerce and mobile banking peak, 200 kbps effectively shuts users out.

“The billing system works fine. The repair system doesn’t,” one Indian user posted, echoing a common theme: automated billing continues while technical support lags.

The lack of a broad statement has left users guessing. Handling complaints one tweet at a time may cool individual tempers, but it won’t fix trust.

Until Airtel addresses the infrastructure behind these repeated flare-ups, subscribers say “unprofessional” is the word that fits.