According to the latest data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for Q4 2024, Starlink now has 65,564 active subscribers, overtaking FiberOne, which recorded 33,010 subscribers.

Since it entered the Nigerian market in early 2023, Starlink has been growing fast, offering high-speed satellite-based broadband to users in both urban and underserved rural areas. 

Unlike traditional ISPs reliant on fibre optics and wireless networks, Starlink’s low-Earth orbit satellite technology provides nationwide coverage, including remote locations where other providers struggle with connectivity issues.

Even with its premium pricing, Starlink’s user base more than doubled within a year, increasing from 23,897 subscribers in 2023 to 65,564 by the end of 2024. 

This surge points to the level of demand for high-speed, reliable connectivity, particularly in areas underserved by traditional ISPs. 

Starlink offers speeds of up to 250 Mbps, far outpacing the offerings of most local ISPs that rely on fibre optics and wireless networks.

Spectranet, which operates on fibre and terrestrial wireless networks, is Nigeria’s largest ISP with 105,441 subscribers, despite losing 8,428 users over the past year. 

Its subscriber base declined from 113,869 at the end of 2023 to 105,441 in Q3 2024, with no further changes in Q4. 

Unlike Starlink’s satellite-based model, Spectranet and other traditional ISPs must pay right-of-way fees, tower installations, and power infrastructure costs, making expansion slower and more expensive.

Other ISPs in Nigeria include Tizeti Networks, with 18,881 subscribers; ipNX Nigeria, serving 16,166 subscribers; and VDT Communications, catering to 6,307 subscribers.

Starlink’s success comes as consumer complaints about the poor internet quality provided by mobile network operators and ISPs are on the high side.

Unlike its competitors, Starlink expands its satellite network globally, improving speeds, reducing latency, and enhancing service reliability. As of February 2025, SpaceX had launched 8,039 Starlink satellites, with 7,082 still in orbit and 7,049 fully operational.

“As far as them (Starlink) being the second-largest ISP now, it makes sense,” said Ladi Okuneye, CEO of UniCloud, an ISP. “Satellite technology’s ubiquitous nature means you can connect a customer today in Ikoyi and another in Ikot Ekpene without being restricted by the geographical limitations of fibre or terrestrial wireless solutions.”

While MTN Nigeria is still at the top in the broadband space, the emergence of Starlink as the second-largest ISP shows a change in consumer preference, particularly for users seeking fast and reliable internet access without the infrastructure limitations of terrestrial networks.

In December 2024, Starlink announced a steep price hike, doubling its monthly subscription fee from ₦38,000 to ₦75,000 for new customers. Existing users were expected to transition to the new pricing by January 27, 2025. However, due to surging demand, Starlink put the tariff adjustment on hold.

This wasn’t the first time Starlink faced pricing challenges in Nigeria. In October 2024, the NCC blocked a previous attempt to raise tariffs, saying the company had not followed the proper regulatory procedures. 

The NCC later approved the hike on February 4, 2025, allowing telecom operators to adjust their prices. However, while MTN Nigeria, Airtel Nigeria, and Smile Communications have increased their prices, Starlink has yet to implement the increase.

Despite its growth, Starlink still faces limitations. Currently, subscribers can only use the service in a fixed location, which means mobile users cannot stay connected on the move. In 2024, Starlink began rolling out satellite-to-phone connectivity to eliminate mobile dead zones, but this service has not yet reached Africa.

The adoption of Starlink accentuates a growing demand for premium, high-speed internet services in Nigeria. While traditional ISPs continue to invest in expanding their fibre infrastructure, Starlink’s satellite model offers a flexible alternative, particularly in regions where fibre rollout is slow or economically unfeasible.

However, affordability is still a critical challenge—Starlink’s service, priced at over ₦400,000 for the hardware and a monthly subscription fee that could rise to ₦75,000, is way higher than traditional ISPs. This has limited its adoption to high-income users, businesses, and remote areas where alternatives are scarce.

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The forthcoming Summit, themed _”CNII: Strengthening Protection of Critical Information Infrastructure through Proactive Implementation and Strategic Coordination,”_ will bring together key players in the telecom industry, regulatory bodies, and government agencies to brainstorm on pressing infrastructure safety concerns.

The move is prompted by the recent designation of telecom facilities as critical national assets under the Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII) Order, signed by President Bola Tinubu in August 2024.

Industry stakeholders have long expressed concerns over the vulnerability of telecom assets to attacks, vandalism, theft, and arbitrary shutdowns, resulting in significant annual losses and disruptions to telecommunications services.

Omobayo Azeez, Lead Executive of PIAFo, emphasised the importance of safeguarding the telecom sector, citing its crucial role in facilitating cross-industry linkages, efficiency, and productivity.

“The telecom sector is the live wire of the Nigerian economy. If it’s not well-protected, all other sectors will feel the ripples,” Azeez warned, recalling the nationwide telecom service disruption in March 2024 caused by undersea cable cuts with attendant economic losses estimated at $593.6 million.

Azeez highlighted the alarming frequency of fibre cuts, with over 50,000 incidents recorded in 2024 alone, resulting in service blackouts and significant repair costs.

“In 2023, operators reported spending over N35 billion to repair and replace installed fibre cables that were destroyed. This is a fortune that could have been otherwise committed to infrastructure expansion to improve quality of service,” he added.

To prevent a repeat of such incidents, PIAFo is championing a collaborative approach to infrastructure safety, promoting awareness, inclusivity, and partnerships with the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), the agency tasked to implement the order, as well as other stakeholders.

The Summit, scheduled for March 20, 2025, at the Bon Hotel Ikeja Residence in Lagos, will feature expert discussions and presentations from invited speakers, including representatives from ONSA, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Galaxy Backbone Limited (GBB) and the Federal Ministry of Works (FMoW).

Other speakers include data centre operators, infrastructure companies (Infracos), Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), tower companies (Towercos), Internet Service Providers (ISPs), telecom lawyers, chiefs of security outfits, and State infrastructure regulatory agencies.

The event has also been endorsed by the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) and the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON).

By convening this critical midpoint engagement platform, PIAFo aims to facilitate a comprehensive and inclusive approach to implementing the CNII Order, ensuring the long-term protection and growth of Nigeria’s telecom sector.

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Ugwuanyi explained the importance of understanding Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) to appreciate the role that these infrastructures play in the tech space.

He stated: “Before we look at the role of IXPN to the ecosystem, I think it’s prudent for us to very briefly look at what an Internet Exchange Point is. Let’s imagine a region, say Lagos, and in this particular region, there’s just one service provider.”

This background, he explained, is essential for understanding the nuances of network communications.

The Function of IXPs in the DNS Industry

Still speaking at the Tech Convergence 1.0, Ugwuanyi delved into the technical details of how IXPs work, noting how they impact the efficiency of DNS operations.

The Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria, for example, connects over 128 networks, and its average traffic reaches over 800 Gbps. 

IXPN operates in all major data centres across Nigeria, including ICNL, Digital Realty, Rack Centre, MDXi, Cloud Exchange, ADC, and OADC. Added to this, IXPN has points of presence in Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt, Enugu, and Delta.

“The Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria, before we delve into the roles it plays, connects over 128 networks, with average traffic exceeding 800 Gbps. We are present in all of the major data centres in Lagos, including ICNL Digital, formerly medallion, Rack Centre, MDXI, Cloud Exchange, ADC, and OADC. We also have other points of presence in Abuja, Kano, Enugu, and Delta.”

Ugwuanyi explained the important role that IXPs play in reducing latency in network communications, which is essential for the efficient functioning of the DNS infrastructure. He illustrated this by comparing the latency between networks connected to IXPN and those that rely on submarine cables.

“For connection to IXPN, all these networks can reach each other at less than one millisecond. The average time to reach these DNS servers is less than one millisecond, as opposed to going through submarine cables, which takes no less than 90 to 100 milliseconds.”

This improvement in speed ascertains the effectiveness of IXPs in reducing latency, which is essential for faster, more reliable internet access, especially for DNS resolutions.

The Economic Benefits of IXPs

Ugwuanyi also emphasised the economic advantages of using IXPs. He explained that on average, most ISPs exchange 50-60% of their traffic at IXPN. This has a significant impact on cost savings for service providers.

“On average, most of the members exchange 50 to 60% of their traffic at IXPN. What this means is that 50-60% of a typical ISP’s traffic goes through the exchange point.”

He used Lagos as an example to highlight the difference in cost between using IXPN for local traffic versus using international transit. 

For instance, a one Gbps connection at IXPN costs around N200,000, while the cost for a similar connection using international transit is much higher, often around N1.2 million after negotiation. The cost difference is obvious, and it shows the economic benefits of localising traffic.

“If you look at the cost of a one Gbps transit, you’re looking at N1.2 million if you negotiate very well. The cost of the same one Mbps connection to IXPN is N200,000, which is a significant saving for providers.”

Outside Lagos, the cost of international transit increases drastically, which further stresses the economic advantage of using IXPs.

“One of our members in Ibadan told me that one Gbps transit connection costs almost N4 million there. So you can see how the reduction in cost of operation is quite significant.”

Enhancing Security and Compliance

Another key aspect of IXPs is their role in enhancing the security and compliance of internet traffic. By localising internet traffic, IXPs reduce the number of intermediaries involved in data transmission, thereby decreasing the exposure to potential attacks. Ugwuanyi explained:

“If the traffic is local, there are fewer players who can intercept and attack the traffic. It also reduces the exposure to attacks like Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS), which is a significant threat when traffic passes through multiple providers and hubs.”

He also discussed how IXPs help with data localisation and compliance with regional regulations. In Nigeria, some laws prevent operators from storing user data outside the country, and IXPs help ensure compliance with such data localisation laws.

“Nigeria has some data localisation laws and policies. For example, operators are prevented from keeping their user data outside Nigeria. An IXP would facilitate and make it possible for players to comply with these regulations.”

Ugwuanyi stressed the importance of IXPs in the tech space, in terms of improving network performance and also reducing costs and enhancing security.

He noted that IXPs help in improving the efficiency, affordability, and security of internet services, making them an essential part of the technological infrastructure in Nigeria and beyond.

“The reduction in cost of operation and improved network performance provided by IXPs is precise. In Lagos, for example, the difference between using IXPN and international transit is very noticeable. The role of IXPs in improving connectivity and reducing costs is undeniable.”

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The Fibre Forward Strategic Development Project, a $2 billion initiative, aims to expand the country’s fibre-optic infrastructure by a commendable 90,000 kilometres.

Undoubtedly, this is a potential game-changer for internet connectivity, economic growth, and digital inclusion in Nigeria. But do we see prospects of monopolies, last-mile challenges, and overall effectiveness? Well…

In recent years, Nigeria has had a big shoot in digital transformation initiatives, and the Fibre Forward Strategic Development Project is definitely one of them. 

However, as with any large-scale infrastructure project, there are both pros and cons.

Can Nigeria Deliver?

Nigeria has a mixed history with large-scale infrastructure projects like the Ajaokuta Steel Mill launched way back to make Nigeria self-sufficient in steel production, among many others. 

Delays and mismanagement were issues with past projects. These experiences leave some of us pondering on the feasibility and efficiency of the Fibre Forward Strategic Development Project.

Nevertheless, under the leadership of Bosun Tijani, the minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, careful planning, and effective project management are expected to mitigate such risks.

It’s interesting to note that the Fibre Forward Strategic Development Project isn’t funded through borrowing, but relies on a $2 billion Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) initiative. While this approach avoids immediate burdens on national debt, potential indirect tax implications are factors to consider, leading to issues about long-term fiscal impacts.

Impact on Local ISPs

The impact on local Internet Service Providers (ISPs) is another important consideration. Will the Fibre Forward Strategic Development Project empower them or squeeze them out? The project’s structure could inadvertently create a dominant player, weakening competition and innovation in the telecom space.

Therefore, a solid regulatory framework is important for Fibre Forward’s success. It must safeguard against anti-competitive practices, ensuring a level playing field for all ISPs and stakeholders. 

A single entity controlling the fibre backbone could act as a gatekeeper, dictating terms to service providers (ISPs) and potentially limiting competition. 

Key measures to curb this include mandating open access to the fibre network to facilitate competition and implementing strict antitrust regulations, ultimately preventing monopolistic behaviours and protecting smaller ISPs.

Combining Terrestrial and Submarine Cables

It needs to be emphasized that the crux of a robust internet backbone is the combination of terrestrial fibre optic cables and submarine cables.

While submarine communications cables are used to connect countries and continents to the Internet, terrestrial fibre optic cables are used to extend this connectivity to landlocked countries or to urban centres within a country that has submarine cable access. 

Thus, in most of the world, a large number of such cables exist, often amounting to robust Internet backbones.

Meanwhile, the lack of such high-speed cables poses a great problem for most African countries. Therefore, the construction of both submarine cables and their terrestrial extensions is considered an important step towards economic growth and development in many African countries.

For record purposes, the list of terrestrial fibre optic cable projects in Africa currently includes, but is not limited to, Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, and Chad. Others are Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Guinea, and Kenya, among others.

It is important to note that some of the terrestrial fibre-optic cables are managed by private organizations and government entities. For instance, Mascom started operations in 2013, and by 2018, it announced it would be laying Botswana’s first fibre-to-the-home service.

In Burkina Faso, Group Vivendi Africa, Onatel, and Orange S.A are major drivers of the terrestrial fibre-optic infrastructure. Onatel came on board in 2020 and is run by the state, while Orange S.A surfaced in 2021.

Stepping away from the terrestrial and submarine stories, the efficacy of telecommunication power or the internet, with its attendant ability to create opportunities and an ecosystem of employment for the teeming unemployed and under-employed Nigerians, is essential.

Private vs. Public

The argument has been raised: should this all-important project be driven solely by the Federal Government of Nigeria, or should the Federal Government co-opt industry practitioners?

Taking a cue from Mrs. Funke Opeke, the chief executive officer of MainOne [now, an Equinix], she noted that Nigeria is yet to make maximum use of its cable capacities. According to her, Nigeria has utilized less than 5% of its cable capacities, and the same applies to other cable operators such as Glo 1 and MTN WACS.

She lamented a situation where Nigerians have more than enough broadband capacities from the three cable operators, which is not being utilized in a country of over 160 million persons.

According to Opeke, broadband capacities remained low on the shores of the country, with less than 10 percent utilization. 

She, however, said the fibre optic cable operators were able to reduce the cost of bandwidth. When compared to other African countries, Opeke said Kenya and Tanzania have gone far in internet access penetration because the governments of those countries built a nationwide infrastructure fibre optic cable backbone and allowed the private sector to run it at a determined low cost, ensuring that every Internet Service Provider (ISP) has equal access to available broadband capacities.

It is on record that so far, the eight subsea cables that have landed in Nigeria include MainOne cable with a capacity of 10 Tbps; ntel’s SAT-3 with 800 Gbps; Globacom’s GLO-2 (12 Tbps); Africa Coast to Europe Cable System with a capacity of 5.5 Tbps; WACS (14.5 Tbps); Equiano (144 Tbps); the Nigeria Cameroon Submarine Cable System (NCSCS) with a capacity of 12.8 Tbps; and 2Africa (180 Tbps).

As referenced above, investment in terrestrial fibre-optic infrastructure has often been a function of combined efforts between the government and private sector, with the government setting the pace, securing critical infrastructure, and regulating operations. We believe the Federal Government of Nigeria should involve industry investors and professionals to give the vision the necessary drive it deserves.

Pricing and Accessibility

Another vital point of emphasis regarding our subject of discussion is the centrality of pricing and access. 

One of the sprawling effects of the 90,000 kilometres of fibre optics infrastructure, among others, is a technological boost, job creation, and the technological empowerment of the nation. This already mirrors an affordable pricing system and accessibility, which are key.

According to Surfshark, a cybersecurity company, Nigeria has one of the most unaffordable internet services in the world. It was ranked 119th for mobile Internet affordability out of the 121 countries surveyed. While the top ten European countries on the list only have to work for an average of 36 minutes, compared to Nigeria’s 175 minutes, to afford mobile Internet. However, the country’s rank for quality Internet is one of the highest in Africa.

The survey revealed that Nigerians have to work for one and a half days (over 35 hours) to afford the cheapest broadband Internet in the country. For context, that is 119 times more than in Romania, which has the world’s most affordable broadband Internet. People in Romania have to work for only 18 minutes to afford the cheapest broadband Internet in the country.

Where Africa’s most populous country ranked 99th globally for mobile Internet affordability, Angola held an impressive fourth position, South Africa ranked 63rd, Botswana ranked 61st, and Ghana was in 96th position.

In addition to the subject matter of affordability and pricing, which we hope the Federal Government of Nigeria will address squarely, it is also important to realize that factors such as infrastructure investment, regulatory environment, technological advancements, access to international bandwidth, economic factors, and operational and maintenance costs are determinants in setting the pace for the price mechanism. We believe these will be adequately taken care of through the balancing and alignment of the federal government’s lofty ideas, industry professionals’ insights, and current economic realities.

Security and Privacy of Data

Closely related to the above is the recurring question of security and privacy of data. An increase in connectivity will automatically pose higher risks to the people. The question begging for an answer, therefore, is, are these challenges pre-empted by the Federal Government of Nigeria? 

For instance, 2021 data from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement (NIBSS) noted that Nigerian banks lost N3.5 billion between July and September 2020 to fraud-related incidences, representing a 534% increase from the same period in 2019, when it was N522 million.

Meanwhile, the Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC) record also indicated that the N2.09 billion loss recorded in Q4 was a 77.58% increase compared with N1.18 billion lost by the banks in Q3 2024. It also revealed that a total of 12,405 cases of fraud were recorded in Q4 2024. When compared to the 12,066 cases in Q3, this shows a 2.81% increase.

According to Ayotunde Coker, CEO of Open Data Access Centre (OADC), there is an increasing number of submarine cables, which means a lot of big data will be captured and will require massive storage capacity. This is responsible for the renewed deployment of capital into hyperscale mega data centres in the country.

The companies currently building hyperscale data centres in Nigeria include Kasi, Rack Centre, and OADC. Kasi Cloud Limited began construction of its hyperscale or Tier IV data centre, modelled after the Silicon Valley technology parks, in 2022. The facility, worth $250 million, will be located in Lekki, Lagos, and is expected to go live in 2024. Rack Centre, a Tier III data centre company, started building a 12-megawatt IT data centre at Ikeja, Lagos in 2023. The data centre is situated on a 20,000-square-meter greenfield site and sits at over 30 meters above sea level.

The construction of OADC’s hyperscale data centre began in 2022. The company is building a data center with a capacity of 24 megawatts of power. “You will see that from the end of this year, the facilities with hyperscale spec will become available, almost like every quarter into the year after. It is like the tipping point is happening,” Coker said. 

Before now, most investors have built Tier III data centres, the second-highest certification in the Uptime Institute’s system of classifying data centre performance into four tiers. Tier III data centres, such as MainOne Data Centre and Rack Centre, offer additional reliability over Tier II in the form of N+1 redundancy and multiple power and cooling distribution paths.

Hyperscale data centres have much larger capacities and infrastructure. These facilities are massive business-critical facilities designed to efficiently support robust, scalable applications and are often associated with big data-producing companies such as Google, Amazon, Facebook, IBM, and Microsoft. Hyperscale data centres usually exceed 5,000 servers and 10,000 square meters.

While South Africa built the first hyper-scale data centre in sub-Saharan Africa seven years ago, in Nigeria, companies like Google, Microsoft, and Facebook store some of their data with data centres like MainOne. With the proliferation of data, therefore, comes the attendant problem of privacy and security, many of which have been mentioned above.

“Data is the new oil,” said British mathematician Clive Humby. This cannot be stressed enough. In today’s digital age, data is indispensable for the survival of any company, business, or entity.

That’s how important data has become for everyone. Steve Jobs, the visionary founder of Apple Inc., articulated his views on data privacy in 2010, defining it as “…means people know what they’re signing up for, in plain English and repeatedly.” With Nigeria’s exponential growth of the internet, which has sparked a surge in the demand for data within the Nigerian digital sphere, it is important to note that over 84 million out of Nigeria’s 200 million citizens have access to the internet. Hence, data has become a critical asset for every business operating in Nigeria. 

However, the collection and storage of data present numerous challenges all over the world, including Nigeria.

For instance, in June 2023, a new data protection bill was signed into law by the Nigerian president, which legalized the regulations set by the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR). However, like most laws, these regulations are continually evolving, which can become a challenge for businesses and digital companies to keep up with compliance.

Interpreting and implementing these regulations can be challenging even with the aid of a good lawyer, particularly for small and medium-sized companies with limited resources. There is also the issue of user consent and transparency. Additionally, data breaches are a major concern. In Nigeria, where internet cyber fraud, commonly referred to as “Yahoo Yahoo,” has become rampant, fending off cyber-attacks has grown increasingly challenging. Data breaches, often resulting from cyber-attacks like malware, phishing scams, and ransomware, have become all too common.

Consequently, service providers and product owners bear significant financial burdens due to the need to hire additional personnel to strengthen product security, provide comprehensive customer support to aid users in dealing with attacks and educate them on the importance of safeguarding their passwords.

In essence, as long as cybercriminals persist in exploiting product vulnerabilities and taking advantage of customers’ ignorance and naivety, data privacy will continually face a formidable threat. But what are the ways out of these teeming challenges? Since we cannot stop the proliferation of data, we can embrace regulatory compliance, implementation of data policies, regular audits, and user consent and transparency among other measures.

It’s important to note that transparency in decision-making and pricing structures is essential to build trust among investors, service providers, and the public alike. In this regard, Bosun Tijani’s inclusive approach to the Fibre Forward Strategic Development Project, and governance is commendable, enabling confidence and accountability among Nigerians.

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