Telecommunications has once again proven itself to be one of Nigeria’s most resilient and strategic sectors. Even in the face of economic headwinds, it continued to underpin financial services, commerce, education, healthcare, security, and government operations.

As we look ahead, the central question is no longer whether the sector can withstand pressure, but how quickly it can scale to meet Nigeria’s growing digital ambitions.

2025: A Year of Stabilisation, Industry Resilience, and Continued Investment

The operating environment in 2025 was far from easy. Telecom operators, tower companies, fibre infrastructure providers, internet service providers, and data-centre operators all had to contend with rising energy costs, foreign exchange volatility, equipment import pressures, Right-of-Way challenges, and persistent infrastructure risks.

Yet, the most important story of 2025 is that the industry did not retreat. Instead, telecom companies across the value chain continued to:

• Expand and densify their networks in high-demand corridors
• Upgrade site power solutions, accelerating the transition to solar and hybrid energy systems to improve uptime and reduce diesel dependency
• Invest in backbone, metro, and access fibre to support rising data demand
• Optimise networks and maintain service availability despite cost pressures

According to data published by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Nigeria crossed a major milestone in 2025, with broadband penetration exceeding 50 percent.

This achievement reflects sustained growth in mobile broadband, fixed wireless access, and fibre-backed connectivity across the country.

Data consumption also reached record highs during the year, underscoring how deeply digital services have become embedded in everyday Nigerian life.

From digital payments and online commerce to streaming, remote work, and cloud services, demand for connectivity continued to rise steadily.

This progress is significant because it reinforces a fundamental truth: industry investment, not policy alone, delivered the measurable gains of 2025.

Regulatory and Policy Stewardship: Government’s Role in Market Stability and Long-Term Direction

Beyond physical infrastructure and private-sector investment, government stewardship through both regulation and policy was a critical pillar of sector performance in 2025.

On the regulatory front, the Nigerian Communications Commission played a steadying and confidence-building role throughout the year.

At a time of economic uncertainty, the Commission’s actions helped preserve stability and predictability across the industry. Key areas of focus included:

• Maintaining transparent industry reporting and broadband performance monitoring, which allowed operators and investors to track progress and plan effectively
• Enforcing Quality of Service (QoS) standards to protect consumers and sustain trust in telecom services
• Encouraging infrastructure sharing and colocation, reducing duplication of assets, and easing capital strain on operators
• Managing spectrum efficiency and refarming, ensuring that available spectrum supported rising data demand
• Engaging operators and security agencies on the protection of telecom assets as Critical National Infrastructure

This consistency in regulatory oversight was essential in sustaining investor confidence. In capital-intensive sectors like telecommunications, regulatory certainty often determines whether long-term projects proceed or stall.

Complementing regulatory stability, policy leadership, and strategic direction were provided by the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, under the leadership of the Honorable Minister ‘Bosun Tijani.

During 2025, several government-led initiatives were announced or advanced to strengthen Nigeria’s long-term digital foundations, including:

• Project BRIDGE, the proposed 90,000-kilometre open-access national fibre backbone aimed at closing connectivity gaps, reducing infrastructure duplication, and lowering wholesale bandwidth costs
• Expansion of digital inclusion and rural connectivity programmes, including Project 774 and initiatives supported by the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF)
• Scaling of digital skills development through the 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) programme, focused on building capacity in software development, cloud computing, cybersecurity, data, and artificial intelligence
• Advancement of Nigeria’s National AI Strategy, positioning the country early in AI governance, ethics, and adoption across public and private sectors.

Together, these regulatory and policy interventions strengthened the long-term fundamentals of Nigeria’s digital economy. However, their effectiveness ultimately depends on sustained private-sector investment and execution, which the industry continued to provide in 2025 despite operating headwinds.

Why 2026 Is Different: From Endurance to Acceleration

If 2025 was about endurance and consolidation, 2026 must be about execution, speed, and scale.

The outlook for the telecom sector in 2026 is positive, driven by three reinforcing forces: industry-led expansion, regulatory alignment, and rising digital demand.

Industry Ambition and Planned Investment in 2026

In 2026, telecom operators and infrastructure providers are expected to intensify investment across several fronts:

• Accelerating fibre rollout and densification using open-access and wholesale models
• Deepening infrastructure sharing across towers, fibre, and power systems
• Expanding last-mile broadband access through FTTH, FWA, enterprise connectivity, and neutral-host solutions
• Increasing investment in data centres and cloud-ready infrastructure
• Improving network resilience, redundancy, and energy efficiency

These investments are being driven by strong demand signals from fintech, digital payments, cloud services, content platforms, AI workloads, and enterprise customers.

From Policy to Infrastructure Execution

As Project BRIDGE and other backbone initiatives move closer to execution and commercialisation, Nigeria stands to unlock significant wholesale fibre capacity.

This will ease network congestion, reduce rollout costs, and enable ISPs and mobile operators to expand coverage more rapidly, particularly into underserved areas.

Policy, Protection, and the Investment Climate

For 2026 to deliver on its promise, policy execution must match policy intent.

The designation of telecom assets as Critical National Infrastructure was a landmark decision. In 2026, this must translate into visible enforcement – protecting fibre routes, towers, and network facilities through coordinated action involving regulators, security agencies, state governments, and host communities.

Equally critical is Right-of-Way harmonisation and the reduction of multiple taxation. Experience has shown that states that adopt progressive RoW policies benefit from faster rollout, lower costs, and improved service availability.

Replicating these best practices nationally remains one of the fastest ways to unlock additional private-sector investment.

ATCON’s Focus for 2026

As the Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria, our priorities for 2026 are clear:

• Champion industry-led infrastructure expansion
• Advocate for open-access networks and fair wholesale pricing
• Support NCC-driven regulatory consistency and QoS enforcement
• Push for RoW harmonisation and effective infrastructure protection
• Strengthen collaboration between industry, regulators, ministries, and security agencies
• Amplify the voice of indigenous operators and infrastructure providers

Telecoms must continue to be treated not merely as a commercial sector, but as strategic national infrastructure essential to economic growth, innovation, and social development.

A Positive Outlook

Nigeria’s telecommunications sector has proven its resilience not in theory, but in practice.

The question for 2026 is no longer whether the industry can survive; it is how quickly it can scale.

With continued industry investment, regulatory stability, and policy execution aligned with market realities, 2026 will mark the beginning of a new phase of accelerated growth, deeper digital inclusion, and stronger digital foundations for Nigeria’s economy.

The independent telecom expert stated this at the just concluded 9th Sub-Sahara Spectrum Management Conference 2024, held in Nairobi, Kenya on 6-7 November, organised by Forum Global on the third theme: “From WRC-23 to WRC-27- Emerging Landscapes  & Technologies and the Path Ahead.”

Dr. Gwandu who held various chairmanship positions at the both the ITU and Commonwealth including the ITU Radiocommunications Advisory Group (the RAG), The Joint Task Group, and Commonwealth ITU Group (CIG), made the call during his opening remarks on the 600MHz spectrum discussions.

While making a presentation on the session: “The shape of Post-WRC spectrum ecosystems”, he called for cooperation among African countries at the forthcoming World Radiocommunications Conference 2027 (WRC-27) to enter Footnote 5.307A, which are radio regulations used to make spectrum allocation for a country or some countries.

Dr. Gwandu who played a key role in founding the ATU (African Telecommunications Union) WRC coordination meetings had expressed disappointment that the continent’s focus on collaborative efforts was waning.

At the core of the discussions was the 600MHz (3GGP n71) band, a key frequency range that many countries worldwide are increasingly allocating for IMT to support 4G and 5G networks.

While several nations in Regions 2 and 3, as well as some in ITU Region 1, have designated this band for mobile, some African countries are not yet ready to make the switch to co-primary allocation.

Eleven African countries had sought request at the WRC-23 for primary mobile allocation of spectrum and IMT identification in the 614-694MHz band, but only Egypt was granted while countries like Rwanda, Guinea, Benin Republic, and Cameroon, blocked requests from 10 other African nations with similar aspirations.

The 10 countries that were blocked include Nigeria, Senegal, Mauritania, Libya, Chad, Gambia, Sudan, Namibia, Somalia, and Tanzania.

Dr Gwandu posited that fighting for status quo to remain or ‘No Change’ in this case is akin to refusing an available front seat and fighting for a back seat.

“Therefore, colleagues, something clearly went wrong at WRC23, and we as Africans need to address it. We must work together, have positive dialogue on challenges, and optimize the use of opportunities. Reasonable countries have always found solutions to accommodate the needs of their neighbours instead of blocking them,” he said, urging African Telecommunication Union (ATU) to remain effective by following its rules.

He said the 600MHz band issue is clear: the world is moving towards IMT in this band, with some countries ready now and others later. “Eventually, most of us will adopt it. Many region 2 and Region 3 countries have taken primary allocation to mobile in the band, and even in region 1, a number of countries have already changed the use status of this band to include either primary or secondary mobile,” he said.

Dr. Gwandu urged those not ready not to obstruct others that are prepared to move forward. Countries develop at different rates, and the ITU Resolution 26 that requires consent before amending footnotes is intended to promote harmonization, not to delay a clear direction, or block progress, he said, adding that there is need to provide regulatory certainty to different industries.

According to him, if many countries in other regions and Africa have not taken the steps to upgrade the mobile service in the band, “then yes, we can try to convince colleagues in Africa to hold, but, this is not the case. The direction is now clear – 600MHz band will be allocated on a primary basis to mobile. It is almost black and white,” he added.

“When we meet as a family, we must be honest with ourselves. Some of us who helped to initiate the ATU WRC coordination meetings are disheartened by how we, as Africans, continue to fight each other in order to win the occupancy of the back seat, whilst neglecting each other’s interests.

“When making decisions, we must consider the unique circumstances of each country, such as geographical size, population and data demand, the capital expenditure required for coverage, the dispersed nature of our rural settlements, the 50 per cent urban to rural connectivity-divide in Africa and the energy costs to power the high throughput systems in rural areas,” he added.

The telecom guru said these factors differ for each country, and thus the frequency allocation solution for a smaller country like Rwanda or Benin cannot be the same for larger nations like Nigeria or Namibia.

The telecommunications industry regulator listed the Spectrum Bandwidth and Licensing areas as: 617-627MHz Band with 10MHZ as available Bandwidth for nationwide licensing on FDD (Frequency Division Duplex) mode.

The same thing applies to 663-673 as part of the first slot; the second slot includes 627-637 and 673-683; third slot – 637-647 and 683-693; the fourth slot comprises of 647-652, and 693-698.

According to the public notice signed by Reuben Muoka, Director Public Affairs at NCC, “Interested applicants should download application form via the link: https://www.ncc.gov.ng/technical-regulation/specrum-application from the Commission’s website and complete it in triplicate and submit to the Commission on or before the close of Business on 28/04/2023”.

The duration of the license, TechEconomy gathered, is for a period of ten (10) years.

During the official opening of the National Shared Services Centre (NSSC) in Abuja on Tuesday, Buhari made this statement.

The NSSC houses a cybersecurity operations center, network center, and call center in addition to being a one-stop shop for ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) to interact with citizens.

Speaking during the opening, Buhari noted that in addition to the proceeds from the sale, the 5G spectrum may be used as another source of funding for infrastructure.

He also praised the sector’s contributions to the nation’s economic growth, job creation, and tax generation.

According to Buhari, the NSSC would offer services that are “swift, secure, and frictionless.”

He continued by saying that the information, communication, and technology (ICT) industry had advanced the economy’s diversification and contributed an unprecedented 18.44 percent of the GDP, or over three times as much as the 6.33 percent the oil sector generated in the second quarter of 2022.

Recall that the Nigerian Communications Commission last December, offered a 3.5GHz spectrum to MTN Nigeria Communications Plc and Mafab Communication to support their 5G rollout. Since NCC awarded the 5G spectrum, MTN has launched its 5G network in selected locations while Mafab is yet to roll out its 5G network.

After winning the 3. 5 GHz spectrum auction, MTN Nigeria and Mafab Communications Limited paid the entire $273.6 million each for a 5G spectrum license in February 2022.

According to a statement from Reuben Muoka, Director, Public Affairs, the Commission had published a draft IM and requested stakeholders to make comments and inputs into the document to enrich its contents.

“Subsequently, stakeholders’ comments were collated and discussed at a Stakeholder’s Engagement forum hosted by the Commission on November 15, 2022, at the Marriott Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, on the same subject.

“All comments have been considered, and a final Information Memorandum to guide the upcoming auction is now available on the Commission’s website (www.ncc.gov.ng) with the link.

“The Commission requests that all stakeholders check public notices in the dailies and visit the website to study and review the final IM.”

Pantami disclosed this in a speech delivered at the third edition of Digital Nigeria Day on Monday. The speech highlighted some of the major milestones which

Today makes it 3 years since the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy commenced the implementation of a Policy and Strategy for the development of a Digital Economy in Nigeria.

According to Pantami, the ICT sector provided 3 unprecedented contributions to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country in the last 3 years, namely 14.07% in Q1 2020, 17.92% in Q2 2021, and 18.44% in Q2 2022. At each time, these numbers are the highest ever contribution of the ICT sector to the GDP.  

“ICT sector grew by 14.70% in Q4 2020, making it the fastest-growing sector of the Nigerian economy in the last quarter of 2020 and the only sector to have grown by double digits. 

“This played a critical role in enabling Nigeria to exit the recession.  Furthermore,   the quarterly revenues also generated for the Federal Government rose from N51.3 billion to  N408.7 billion, through spectrum sales and taxes from the sector.”

Further, over 863,372 citizens benefited from digital skills programs and the Ministry has agreements with leading global companies like Microsoft and Huawei, to train millions of Nigerians.

When Pantami assumed office on the 21st of August 2019, the official broadband penetration figures stood at 33.72% and today it is 44.65%, representing close to 13 million new broadband users.

He noted that there were 13,823 4G base stations and now 36,751, representing a 165.86% increase.  The percentage of 4G coverage across the country also increased from 23% to 77.52%. 

Additionally, the cost of data has crashed from N1,200 per GB to about N350, making it easier for Nigerians to connect to the Internet.

“The quarterly savings from the IT projects’ clearance process rose from N12.45 million to N10.57 billion,” he noted

He said the government aims to create a pool of Innovation Driven Enterprises (IDEs) to accelerate the development of Nigeria’s digital economy.

“Through our efforts, 355,610 direct and indirect jobs were created. Privacy concerns are also being addressed through the newly established Nigeria Data Protection Bureau (NDPB).

“The drafting of the data protection bill has reached an advanced stage. The Digital Identity enrolments have also been very successful, with issued National Identification Numbers (NINs) rising from less than 40 million to over 90 million,” Pantami added.

Microsoft Enterprise deal will save the cost of information technology projects, while C-band migration is expected to boost the 5G network ahead of launch in August this year.

This is according to a statement by Dr Femi Adeluyi, Technical Assistant, Research and Development, to the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof Isa Pantami.

The statement read in part, “The Federal Executive Council approved an Enterprise Licensing Agreement for Microsoft Products and the clearing up of C-band Spectrum, in order to accelerate the deployment of 5G services in the country.”

According to the statement, the Government-wide Enterprise Licensing Agreement for Microsoft products is a software acquisition cost-reduction strategy for the government, which will keep the cost of IT projects within sustainable levels.

This strategy will be implemented by the National Information Technology Development Agency, under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy.

It is expected that the Enterprise Licensing Agreement will provide a projected savings of a minimum of 35 per cent of the government’s current investment in Microsoft Products and Services.

The Federal Government directed all Federal Public Institutions to key into the Agreement in the procurement of Microsoft licenses and services.

TechEconomy had reported that C-band migration approval enables the Nigerian Communications Commission to clear part of the C-band spectrum within the country’s telecommunications industry of any impediments and migrate the current users on the affected spectrum, towards the successful deployment of 5G technology in the country.

Additionally, the NCC and the Nigerian Communication Satellite Limited have agreed to migrate the operations of NigComSat-1R Satellite C Band service to another frequency (Standard C Band) and release its current frequency for immediate deployment of 5G in the country.

According to the statement, the current lifetime of NigComSat-1R ends in seven and a half years, operating C-Band services on the 3.4 – 3.9GHz spectrum range.

Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, who also wears the hat of the Chairman, National Frequency Management Council (NFMC), presented the official document on the 3.5GHz spectrum allocation to the Commission at a public event which took place at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja on Thursday, February 17, 2022.

The 5G spectrum allocation document was received by the Chairman, NCC Board of Commissioners, Prof. Adeolu Akande, and the Commission’s Executive Vice Chairman/CEO, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, on behalf of the Commission.

Speaking at the event, which also witnessed the public presentation of the National Policy on 5G Networks, a document earlier launched by President Muhammadu Buhari on January 25, 2022, the Minister commended the NCC leadership for ‘a transparent, fair and credible 3.5GHz spectrum auction’ conducted on December 13, 2021.

Pantami stated that the NFMC, which he chairs, has the responsibility for managing the allocation of commercial and non-commercial spectrum resources in the country while the NCC is facilitating the deployment of spectrum in the country.

Hence, the Council decided to allocate the assigned spectrum for 5G network to the NCC to enable it assign same to the winners of the 3.5GHz spectrum auction.

Pantami also stated that the 5G network, when deployed, will bring a lot of benefits and opportunities that will engender accelerated growth and smart living in the country.

He asserted that the technology will bring substantial network improvements, including higher connection speed, mobility and capacity, as well as low-latency capabilities.

Earlier in his remarks, Akande appreciated the Minister for his efforts in ensuring that every clog that could hinder successful deployment of 5G services are addressed, thus paving the way for mutual understanding and trust among all stakeholders to ensure that the derivable benefits of the new technology are harnessed timely for the nation’s socio-economic development.

He said the effective implementation of the National Policy on 5G, which the Commission is driving, will help in the actualization of the national targets in the Nigerian National Broadband Plan (NNBP) 2020-2025, the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy 2020-2030, as well as other sectoral policies designed to enhance Nigeria’s digital culture.

The EVC of NCC, Danbatta, while expressing appreciation to the Minister and all stakeholders for the role played in the emerging 5G network policy implementation initiatives, said the collective efforts of the private sector and government support will make deployment of 5G network transform every aspect of the nation’s economy.

He was optimistic that the expected transformation will be greater than what the nation witnessed with the 1G, 2G, 3G and 4G.

Recalling the diligence that attended the implementation of 5G policy by the NCC since the process started in 2019, Danbatta said Nigeria had taken proactive and meticulous steps to be among the leading players in the global digital economy.

“We have been meticulous all the way in our 5G deployment journey, from trial across selected states in the country, to review and stakeholder engagement, to approval by the Federal Executive Council (FEC), to the 3.5GHz spectrum auction, and up to the official launch of the national policy on 5G network by the President. Now we have the official allocation of the spectrum to the NCC for onward assignments to the winners. So, the coast is clear for the country to assign the specific reference in the spectrum to the winners, upon announcement of payments,” Danbatta said.

Meanwhile, eminent stakeholders and dignitaries at the event, have commended Danbatta for ensuring sterling record of transparency and accountability in the sale of the 3.5GHz Spectrum Band allocated for deployment of 5G network in Nigeria.

The stakeholders include the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital economy, Mr. Bitrus Nabasu; the former Executive Secretary of the Commonwealth Telecommunication Organisation (CTO), Mr. Shola Taylor; Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Abdullahi; Managing Director of Galaxy Backbone Plc, Prof. Muhammed Abubakar; and the Director General of National Identity Management Commission, Dr. Aliyu Aziz, among others.

Earlier in a presentation on the Benefits of 5G, Engr Shola Taylor, a former Secretary of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation, declared that 5G will have far-reaching transformational impact on major sectors of the Nigerian economy, which will bring about rapid social-economic development of the country.

Recall that the initial trial to ascertain the risks involved in the deployment of 5G in Nigeria was conducted in November of 2019 while the policy was launched on the 25th of January 2022 by President Muhammadu Buhari (GCFR)