Telecom
Fixed Broadband – The Next Big Thing for Nigeria
By: Rajiv Aggarwal
Nigeria urgently needs rapid rollout of broadband services to address the country’s various socio-economic challenges.
Rajiv Aggarwal, Head of CEWA Market Unit at Nokia
With a population estimated at about 203 million people, 23 percent of the overall population is currently unemployed.
Furthermore, 55 percent of the country’s youth are unemployed, which presents a massive challenge considering that over half the population is under the age of 25.
According to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the country’s broadband penetration as at June 2021 stood at is 39.9 per cent with a broadband subscriptions figure of 76.29 million.
Therefore, the country is faced with the tremendous challenge of puttingits largely unemployed and underemployed population to work.
Addressing Nigeria’s socio-economic challenges
The rapid rollout of broadband services will address various socio-economic challenges faced by the country, including the need to grow its economy, job creation, expansion of the tax base, and improving digital literacy and educational standards.
This will also address identity management and security challenges through the effective use of technology, increase financial inclusion and deliver a broad range of services to its people to improve their quality of life and work towards achieving the UN’s 2030Social Development Goals.
The new Broadband Plan is designed to deliver data download speeds across Nigeria of a minimum of 25Mbps in urban areas, and 10Mbps in rural areas, with effective coverage available to at least 90% of the population by 2025 at a price not more than N390 per 1GB of data.
The Broadband Plan will drive increased fibre connectivity in schools, healthcare facilities, government buildings and towers, amongst others.
Notably, a large traffic volume within the middle mile networks is still backhauled using microwave equipment today.
While this type of backhaul was adequate for narrow-band voice communications, it is no longer adequate for the effective delivery of bandwidth-intensive broadband applications driving current demand.
The need to make fibre-optics the de-facto means of backhauling traffic within middle-mile networks, for the effective deployment of broadband networks, cannot be overemphasized.
Last-mile connectivity in Nigeria is also largely mobile with comparatively lower investments made in fixed-line infrastructure within the past two decades.
There is therefore a need for improvement in last-mile connectivity for increased adoption.
More submarine cable access will become available as new players such as the 2Africa Consortium extend broadband cable branches to Nigeria, boosting broadband penetration across the country.
The consortium recently announced the addition of four new branches to the 2Africa cable, which will extend 2Africa’s connectivity to the Seychelles, the Comoros Islandsand Angola; and bring a new landing to South-east Nigeria.
The role of fibre and fixed wireless access
To date, fibre density in Nigeria remains particularly low with approximately 10% of base stations connected to fibre and most of the fibre networks overbuilt on the same routes.
The continued reliance on narrowband microwave links remains a limiting factor in terms of aggregate capacity and stability of mobile networks especially in a challenging electricity supply environment.
Denser metro fibre networks will also provide the essential building blocks for future Fibre-To-The-X networks. In addition, the massive development in the real estate sector of the economy with several ‘’gated communities ‘’ being built in cities like Lagos, Abuja, Kano, PHC, Ibadan are also fuelling broadband adoption in Nigeria.
Fibre access is considered the biggest and fastest growing technology with the largest eco-system of players that includes fixed and converged operators, governments, cities, utilities, enterprises, and infrastructure investors.
Fibre access networks are becoming the unifying infrastructure that underpins the entire telecom industry, connecting everyone to everything.
The COVID pandemic has highlighted the “digital divide” and the importance of broadband connectivity worldwide.
New and more powerful fixed networks are therefore needed to increase speeds and improve the user experience.
While fibre remains a preferred choice, it can be expensive, time consuming, and challenge to serve homes and businesses.
To address the broadband need in underserved rural and suburban markets where the economics of FTTH is too cost-prohibitive, fixed wireless access (FWA) is seen as a good substitute via 4G and 5G to enable high-speed broadband.
With expanding network capacity afforded by 5G and new sub-6 GHz and millimeter wave spectrum, more and more operators see FWA as a complement to their “fibre plus FWA” broadband strategy.
The fixed wireless access (FWA) market continues to expand, with the underlying broadband demand arguably accelerated by the COVID pandemic.
The market growth is supported and fuelled by robust product innovations.
It is therefore important to keep pushing the boundaries of fixed technology and make sure the investments in fixed networks made today will be usable for many years to come to meet the inevitable growth in demand for faster, more responsive, and immersive internet services.
Fibre broadband investment enables a premium customer experience, competitive advantage, the lowest operational costs (OPEX), and the lowest power consumption of any broadband technology, with the additional opportunity of service convergence (residential, enterprise and 5G transport).
As a major global equipment vendor with a leading set of Fixed Access technologies, Nokia partners with fixed, converged, mobile and cable operators to deliver extraordinary Gigabit broadband services and enable them to address the unprecedented demands on their networks today.
Our ability to take our customers beyond the network termination point and deliver gigabit broadband throughout the home is another strength, especially with the increased data consumption associating the pandemic.
Fixed broadband will enable Nigerian Service Providers to provide faster speeds and better coverage to customers while achieving the price points highlighted in the Nigeria Broadband Plan.
The use of passive fibre networks along with a shared infrastructure model will greatly reduce the costs of deployment while maximizing the Capex investment.
Fibre not only ensures the speeds of today, but that the capacity needed tomorrow can be met.
Fixed broadband and fibre not only ensure faster download speeds for end users on fibre, but can also serve as an anchor point for densification of mobile networks as well serving as a connection point for wireless access points and even cell towers in some instances.
All of this translates to greater broadband penetration in Nigeria and increased services and benefits for CSPs and their end customers.
As part of the 2Africa Consortium, Nokia is facilitating increased fibre deployments in Nigeria.
Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN), a division of Nokia that has been selected to deploy the new branches, which will increase the number of 2Africa landings to 35 in 26 countries, further improving connectivity into and around Africa including Nigeria.
Nokia also provides GPON solutions to several providers in Nigeria, thereby increasing fixed broadband speeds using FTTH.
One of the examples is that Nokia is providing Spectranet, Nigeria’s largest Internet Service Provider, with its GPON solution and enabling 100+ Mbps ultra-broadband services to end users in Lagos and Abuja as part of an extensive Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) rollout.
This kind of deployments with Nokia’s superior fixed network technologies, in turn, enables Nigerian Service Providers to offer up to 1Gbps speeds to end customers using passive fibre connections.
Rajiv Aggarwal, Head of CEWA Market Unit at Nokia
MTN has said since 2001, it has committed over $10 billion into deepening Nigeria’s digital infrastructure, enhancing widespread connectivity and financial inclusion.
Despite economic headwinds, the Group said it remained committed to Nigeria’s long-term potential and the broader African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) vision.
The telecom giant said as Africa stands at the point of a profound transformation, the imperative for greater intra-continental cooperation has never been clearer.
The path to shared prosperity depends not on the progress of individual nations but on the collective strength of our commitments.
Central to this vision is the relationship between South Africa and Nigeria, two of the continent’s largest economies, and the institutions that serve as bridges between them.
MTN Group said it hosted Minister Parks Tau (SA Minister of Trade Industry and Competition) and his delegation at its Johannesburg Headquarters.
“At a time when global uncertainties are reshaping trade and technology, Africa must respond not in isolation, but in solidarity. As MTN, we see it as our duty to serve as an economic diplomatic bridge between Nigeria and South Africa — driving growth, fostering inclusion, and unlocking opportunity for the Africa’s shared prosperity,” the carrier said.
“MTN’s journey exemplifies what is possible when two great nations collaborate. As Nigeria’s largest South African investor, MTN has long viewed its presence not simply as a commercial venture but as a platform for inclusive development. Since commencing operations in Nigeria in 2001, we have invested more than $10 billion in the country’s digital infrastructure.
“Today, MTN Nigeria serves over 80 million subscribers, employs thousands directly, and supports hundreds of thousands of livelihoods across its extended value chain.
“Yet, while the economic footprint is significant, our greatest source of pride lies in the social and developmental outcomes accompanying this investment, expanded access to connectivity, enhanced financial inclusion, and the empowerment of individuals and enterprises through digital technologies.
“Still, the operating environment remains complex. Macroeconomic challenges in Nigeria, including currency depreciation, inflation, and constraints in accessing foreign exchange, have placed pressure on business continuity and investor confidence. Despite these difficulties, MTN remains firmly committed to its business case and its long-term presence in Nigeria, underpinned by a belief in the country’s enduring potential and strategic importance to the continent,” it added in an e-note at the weekend.
However, it said for South Africa and Nigeria to truly unlock their bilateral potential, a number of long-standing issues require resolution. The upcoming South Africa–Nigeria Trade and Investment Summit, to be held in Abuja later this year, will present a unique opportunity to address these concerns. The Summit serves not merely as a diplomatic engagement, but as a catalyst for policy reform, reciprocal market access, and institutional dialogue. Importantly, it should reinforce the private sector’s role in shaping practical, actionable solutions that support cross-border trade and investment.
The AfCFTA offers a historic platform to actualise these ambitions. Yet its success will depend as much on infrastructure and digital connectivity as it will on tariff liberalisation or regulatory harmonisation.
“As a pan-African operator, MTN is investing heavily in the digital foundations of AfCFTA, facilitating seamless mobile communication, enabling digital payments, and building platforms for cross-border entrepreneurship.
“We also believe that integration must extend beyond economic frameworks to include cultural exchange and people-to-people engagement. One such initiative is our MTN Media Innovation Programme, which brings emerging Nigerian media professionals to South Africa for immersive learning. Through programmes like these, we aim to cultivate not only knowledge and skills, but also enduring bonds between our nations’ future leaders,” the telco explained.
As the revolutionary Airtel Spam AI Alert Service rolls out across Airtel Africa’s 14 operating countries, Airtel Nigeria CEO, Dinesh Balsingh, has elaborated on the unprecedented benefits and operating principles guiding the Spam Alert Service.
Designed to enhance user safety, this pioneering AI-driven product provides real-time defense against spam and fraudulent SMS messages, making it a gamechanger for mobile security across the continent.
The Airtel AI Spam Alert Service, which is engineered to automatically detect and label suspicious SMS messages as “Suspected SPAM” without requiring any user action or additional apps, leverages a robust AI algorithm that analyzes over 250 parameters.
These parameters includee sender behavior, message frequency, message geographical distribution, and unusual activity patterns. Impressively, the service completes this process under just two milliseconds, offering near-instantaneous alerts while maintaining the privacy of user data by not reading message content.
Commenting on the breakthrough service, Dinesh Balsingh, CEO of Airtel Nigeria, stated: “Nigeria is not just a critical market for us—it’s a leader in digital adoption within the continent. Our AI Spam Alert Service reflects our dedication to safeguarding our customers from the growing threat of SMS fraud.
“As the first of its kind in Africa, it addresses a fundamental issue of trust and security, which is paramount to our digital ecosystem. We’re proud to offer this service to Nigerians and extend it across our African footprint.”
Following its successful deployment in Nigeria, the Spam Alert Service has now launched in Tanzania and Kenya and is set to cover Airtel’s entire African operations. The service’s automatic activation for all Airtel customers, across both smartphones and feature phones, ensures maximum reach and accessibility.
Early feedback from subscribers has been overwhelmingly positive, with users praising the AI’s efficiency in flagging potentially harmful messages without interfering with their everyday communication.
By pioneering this AI-based spam detection technology, Airtel Africa demonstrates its commitment to leveraging cutting-edge innovation to resolve critical issues facing its subscribers. The AI Spam Alert Service not only protects users but also sets a new benchmark for mobile security standards in the region.
“Our goal is to build a safer digital environment for our users,” added Balsingh. “This innovation is part of our broader strategy to incorporate advanced technologies that address real challenges while enhancing the overall customer experience.”
As Africa stands at the point of a profound transformation, the imperative for greater intra-continental cooperation has never been clearer. The path to shared prosperity depends not on the progress of individual nations but on the collective strength of our commitments.
Central to this vision is the relationship between South Africa and Nigeria, two of the continent’s largest economies, and the institutions that serve as bridges between them.
It was an honour for MTN Group to host Minister Parks Tau (SA Minister of Trade Industry and Competition) and his delegation at our Headquarters in Johannesburg. At a time when global uncertainties are reshaping trade and technology, Africa must respond not in isolation, but in solidarity.
As MTN, we see it as our duty to serve as an economic diplomatic bridge between Nigeria and South Africa — driving growth, fostering inclusion, and unlocking opportunity for the Africa’s shared prosperity.
MTN’s journey exemplifies what is possible when two great nations collaborate. As Nigeria’s largest South African investor, MTN has long viewed its presence not simply as a commercial venture but as a platform for inclusive development.
Since commencing operations in Nigeria in 2001, we have invested more than US$10 billion in the country’s digital infrastructure.
Today, MTN Nigeria serves over 80 million subscribers, employs thousands directly, and supports hundreds of thousands of livelihoods across its extended value chain.
Yet, while the economic footprint is significant, our greatest source of pride lies in the social and developmental outcomes accompanying this investment, expanded access to connectivity, enhanced financial inclusion, and the empowerment of individuals and enterprises through digital technologies.
Still, the operating environment remains complex. Macroeconomic challenges in Nigeria, including currency depreciation, inflation, and constraints in accessing foreign exchange, have placed pressure on business continuity and investor confidence.
Despite these difficulties, MTN remains firmly committed to its business case and its long-term presence in Nigeria, underpinned by a belief in the country’s enduring potential and strategic importance to the continent.
However, for South Africa and Nigeria to truly unlock their bilateral potential, a number of long-standing issues require resolution. The upcoming South Africa–Nigeria Trade and Investment Summit, to be held in Abuja later this year, presents a unique opportunity to address these concerns.
The Summit serves not merely as a diplomatic engagement, but as a catalyst for policy reform, reciprocal market access, and institutional dialogue. Importantly, it should reinforce the private sector’s role in shaping practical, actionable solutions that support cross-border trade and investment.
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) offers a historic platform to actualise these ambitions. Yet its success will depend as much on infrastructure and digital connectivity as it will on tariff liberalisation or regulatory harmonisation.
As a pan-African operator, MTN is investing heavily in the digital foundations of AfCFTA, facilitating seamless mobile communication, enabling digital payments, and building platforms for cross-border entrepreneurship.
We also believe that integration must extend beyond economic frameworks to include cultural exchange and people-to-people engagement. One such initiative is our MTN Media Innovation Programme, which brings emerging Nigerian media professionals to South Africa for immersive learning.
Through programmes like these, we aim to cultivate not only knowledge and skills, but also enduring bonds between our nations’ future leaders.
MTN Commits $10Bn to Nigeria’s Digital Infrastructure
10 Percent of Nigerians Affected by Data Breaches since 2004
NIN: FG Increases DoB Update Fee by 75Percent to N28,574
SEC Intensifies Fight Against Ponzi Schemes With Market
Afreximbank Unveils Third Edition of Short Film Competition ‘Creative Africa Nexus’
General News3 days agoFCMB Group Posts ₦35bn Q1 Profit as Revenue Surpasses Forecast
Telecom3 days agoAirtel Reveals Mechanism of Spam Alert Service
Telecom3 days agoMTN Group Strengthens Nigeria-South Africa Economic Ties Amid Africa’s Transformation
E-Business3 days agoMinister Seeks Digital Tech Adoption to Improve Agriculture, Boost Food Security
General News3 days agoNigerian Tech Prodigy sets World Record with Smallest GPS Tracker
E-Financial3 days agoFidelity Bank grows PBT by 167.8% to N105.8 billion in Q1 2025
General News3 days agoAfrica Looks to Solar Amid Electricity Challenges
Telecom3 days agoTariff Hike Leads to Decline in Nigeria’s Internet Users – NCC Report