Telecom
Operators Say Funding, Others Hamper ICT Development in Nigeria

Telecommunications operators in the country have said that funding is the biggest challenge they face in their efforts to ensure increased access and affordability of telecommunications services in the country.
According to them, right funding for the development of transmission infrastructure which is necessary for increased access and affordability of telecom services is lacking in the country.
Ikechukwu Nnamani, chief executive officer, Medallon Communications, a data centre operator, told Nigeria CommunicationsWeek that the biggest challenge in information and communications technology today is right funding.
“It has been identified that cost of leasing transmission infrastructure in the country is very high because of the fact that operators that built these transmission infrastructure have borrowed money with high interest rate and will have to pay back in record time.
Banks in the country charges interest rate of 35 percent. How can you borrow money with 35 percent interest rate to execute a long term project and still charge reasonable cost? They have no option than to charge high to enable them to have quick return on investment.
“More so, ‘Right of Way’ issues as we are witnessing today is also tied to right funding.
He said that since the country does not have venture capital firms that can fund long term capital projects, “our best alternative is for the federal government to borrow money to finance the building of telecommunications transmission infrastructure that operators can lease to deliver services at cheaper cost as well as reliable.
“Since government can borrow money to finance railway project which is long term project that helps to ease means of transportation at reduced cost, it is not out of place to extend same to ICT development knowing that availability of telecommunications services has a wide range of positive impact on the economy.
“Today we complain of impediments to broadband penetration, inability to reach 30 percent target. Even where we have access, reliability is a problem due to high cost of backbone infrastructure. Federal government needs to come out with right funding mechanism to address these problems,” he stated.
Mohammed Rudman, managing director, Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria, IXPN, said that the issue of right of way has been there for a very long time and that the best solution to the problem is for all the various stakeholders to come together.
“All the right actors should come together. As it is today the industry is a bit fragmented, we need to really come together, have a strong voice and ensure that the highest authority in the country is aware of the current situation and propose solutions to the problem.
“For instance, the president of Nigeria should be aware of these inconsistences in the prices of right of way that the telecommunications operators in Nigeria are facing in various states and it should be address at Federal Executive Council.
“They need to approve a common rate across all the states and the states should be in agreement with the presidency and if the presidency wants to do this I think it is possible for them to push the states to agree certain conditions.
“Not only right of way, there are constant bottle necks in terms of regulations just to boost internally generated revenue for the states, there are various kinds of regulations. As at the last time I checked there are 38 different levies and taxes on telecommunications operators across the federal, states and local government areas.
“This is huge. It doesn’t make sense. What should happen is for each state to possibly harmonize and get under one ministry where all the telecommunications related taxes and regulations can be pursued and be paid their instead going to various ministries departments and agencies,” he added.
Telecom
MTN Nigeria Wins Award for Best Use of Data @MarkHack 4.0 Awards Night

MTN Nigeria’s commitment to digital innovation took center stage at MarkHack 4.0, the annual marketing and technology conference held at Landmark Event Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, on Friday, May 23, 2025, with the theme ‘Experience Ignited: Fueling the Customer’s Journey’.

L-R: Akinbulejo Onabolu, Head, Enterprise Segment, MTN Nigeria; Eneyi Obi, Global Chief Marketing Officer, Rise; Tobi Olanisimi, Marketing Manager, AB InBev; Martha Kayode, Marketing Head, PZ Cussonz; Sulaiman Shaibu, CEO, BFT Consulting Service and Daniel Adeyemi, Managing Editor, Condia Business at the MarkHack 4.0 Conference held at the Landmark Event Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos on Friday, May 23, 2025.
In a celebration of innovation, technology, and storytelling, the company also took home the award for Best Use of Data in a Marketing Campaign at the Nigeria MarTech (MarkHack 4.0) Awards Night. This award recognizes brands that have successfully transformed data into compelling narratives and actionable insights to meaningfully engage their audiences.
Akinbulejo Onabolu, Senior Manager, Segment Management, Enterprise Business at MTN, joined a panel to discuss the power of immersive technologies on consumer behaviour. Drawing from MTN’s launch of its 5G Digital Experience Centre in Abuja last year, Onabolu highlighted the rapid evolution of immersive technologies such as Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) stating “Our 5G centre is a sandbox for our customers to come and see how technology can shape things. At the launch event, we unveiled a smart city to customers, clients and dignitaries in attendance, with gaming and other tech experiences.”
On the intersection of data, AR and VR, he added: “Co-creating with MTN takes our minds to a platform where different partners, companies and creators can bring their buildings, products and businesses for people to see via augmented reality and connectivity, just swiping through and following through that journey.
“As a part of impacting our customer’s lives, a few years ago, we also played around with the Metaverse and we ended up creating some of our back-office processes with some of our customer journeys on augmented reality and virtual reality such that a customer somewhere can engage with a virtual agent to solve real life problems and integrating that back into our operating systems. As an organization, at a lot of our events, you will find a lot of AR and VR experiences.”
Speaking on how MTN is embedding immersive technology into its day-to-day operations, he explained that the company is prioritizing both internal capability development and external engagement. “85% of our organization has undergone extensive training on AI and that already is a great addition to our daily lives. We’re using it to do things differently, developing user journeys and brainstorming different things. In terms of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality, we are working with organizations to develop training programs which we use internally.”
He described the bases for this tech as stable connectivity, high bandwidth, high speed and low latency. “Over the past year, we’ve doubled our 5G capacity across the entire country. Wherever you are, you’ll probably start to pick up 5G. With our FibreX service, we’re going way beyond connectivity to create the systems and platforms to support the ecosystem, AR and VR. In addition to this, we’re also engaging regulatory systems to start to tease this out and build the proper governance.”
The session, moderated by Daniel Adeyemi, Managing Editor at Condia Business, also featured insights from leaders in FMCG, consulting, and global marketing, all underscoring the transformative potential of immersive technologies for Africa’s future.
Telecom
MTN Nigeria Invests ₦900Bn in 2025 to Boost Network Quality in Lagos & Abuja

MTN Nigeria has announced a massive capital expenditure (CAPEX) drive for 2025, nearly doubling its investment to almost 900 billion Naira, as it seeks to significantly enhance network service quality in major cities like Lagos and Abuja and extend improvements to other areas.

Karl Toriola
This financial commitment, up from a combined total of approximately 440 billion Naira spent in 2023 and 2024, was detailed by MTN Nigeria CEO, Dr. Karl Toriola, during a recent interview on Arise TV.
Toriola highlighted that a key focus of the increased CAPEX will be on “putting additional capacity in a city like Lagos, particularly in Abuja, where you have a lot of buildings coming up, you need additional sites because there are coverage issues.”
Beyond these critical urban centres, the investment aims to bolster network resilience and ensure power stability for its infrastructure nationwide. This includes proactively addressing site outages by ensuring timely payment for operational necessities such as diesel for generators, a persistent challenge in the Nigerian operating environment
The CEO outlined the comprehensive nature of the upgrade process, which involves “placing orders formally, opening letters of credit, and then the equipment gets shipped in and installed.” He added that where necessary, MTN will be “acquiring new sites” and “laying fiber to the base station to create better stability.”
While the immediate CAPEX is geared towards improving existing service quality and capacity, this investment aligns with MTN’s broader goals, which include enhancing financial inclusion in underserved rural areas, suggesting a long-term vision for network expansion and service improvement that extends beyond metropolitan areas.
Customers are expected to begin experiencing the positive impact of these investments with a “significant improvement in quality of service” anticipated by the end of the second quarter or early in the third quarter of 2025, according to Toriola.
Telecom
Airtel’s AI Spam Alert Flags 9.6m Spam Attempts

Airtel Nigeria, telecom service provider, has announced that its AI-powered Spam Alert Service issued over 9.6 million spam alerts between March 13 and May 20, 2025.
As part of its ongoing commitment to protecting customers from unwanted and potentially fraudulent communications, Airtel designed the AI Spam Alert service to analyze traffic patterns and detect anomalies.
In the period since launch the AI pinpointed a total of 9,667,008 SMS as potential spam messages in the two months after its launch.
Of these, the system identified 528,080 on-net (Airtel-to-Airtel) and 9,138,928 off-net (from other networks) numbers as suspected spam messages, demonstrating the scale of the threat and Airtel’s advanced processing capability.
Airtel Nigeria is a subsidiary of Airtel Africa.
Commenting on this development, Dinesh Balsingh, CEO, Airtel Nigeria, restated Airtel`s commitment to protecting its customers.
“This milestone demonstrates the strength of our AI-driven infrastructure in combating the growing menace of spam and scam calls. At Airtel Nigeria, we are focused on connecting Nigerians and ensuring their safety and confidence while using our network.
“We understand that trust is the cornerstone of digital communication. That’s why we’ve invested heavily in intelligent systems that not only detect potential threats but also learn and evolve with data. As threats become more sophisticated, so will our solutions. As a company, we remain focused on leading the industry in innovation and customer satisfaction, ensuring that every Nigerian can enjoy a safer and smarter digital experience,” Mr. Balsingh said.
The Spam Alert Service is part of Airtel Nigeria’s broader strategy to integrate artificial intelligence into its core offerings to deliver smarter and safer experiences for its customers across the country.
Recall that the Spam Alert Service was launched on March 13, 2025. A groundbreaking and free solution from Airtel, it notifies users in real-time of suspected spam SMS messages by analyzing over 250 parameters.
The Airtel AI Spam Alert Service is available to all Airtel subscribers on smartphones and feature phones.
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