Telecom
Spectranet Looks to Deepen Fixed Broadband Penetration in Nigeria – Awasthi

Ajay Awasthi is the chief executive officer of Spectranet Nigeria. He spoke on the efforts of the Internet Service Provider in deepening broadband penetration in Nigeria.
As a major player in Nigeria’s Fixed Broadband segment, through your fiber optic based Fixed Broadband service offering, how will you describe the pace of Nigeria’s broadband penetration and its impact on digital infrastructure?
Fixed Broadband penetration in Nigeria is at abysmally low levels currently at about 0.1%. This pales in comparison to overall broadband ( including mobile broadband) penetration which, as per the latest figures by NCC, is at 42.27 %.
Just to put these figures in the right perspective, the worldwide Fixed Broadband penetration in 2021(as per Statista) is 16.7% with Europe leading the table with 34.7% penetration.
Fixed Broadband services have the capability to deliver extremely cost effective, high quality and high-speed access to internet. It can play a significant role in overall development of world class digital infrastructure in the country.
It’s quite clear that there is a lot of ground to be covered to increase Fixed Broadband penetration to even half of the worldwide penetration level. Being the foremost ISP in Nigeria, Spectranet is keen to lead the effort to increase the FBB penetration to the next levels within the next 2-3 years.
Spectranet as a pioneer in launching 4G LTE services in Nigeria. What was the trigger for launching Fiber based Fixed Broadband services?
Culturally, we are an extremely data analytics and insight driven company with a deep sense of commitment towards proactively serving the needs of customers. Be it being the first to recognize the changing trends in data consumption and offering relevant products or anticipating and eliminating the causes of their pain points.
Post COVID, we have been keenly observing the key shifts in usage behaviour of our customers. A post COVID data user wants high speed internet access with low latency, high level of consistency with 99.99% up time.
All this at extremely affordable prices to watch movies on OTT platforms, play games or use video conferencing! We understood that these fast- evolving trends can be effectively addressed with a superior price-value proposition, through Fixed Broadband technologies.
This is what triggered our entry into Fixed Broadband and we are extremely pleased with the response we have been getting in the market in the cities of Lagos and Abuja. We will soon be entering into other markets too.
How is Spectranet going to differentiate its Fixed Broadband services once the 5G services are rolled out in Nigeria.
The telecom regulator NCC has done a commendable job by auctioning 5G Spectrum way ahead of many other countries. As per report the 5G services should get launched in the next 2-3 months times, though in a limited manner.
For a comprehensive 5 G launch, in order to realize the full benefits like high speed data, low latency, IOT, it’s critical to have an omnipresent network interconnected through a robust optic fiber network- connecting various towers and then for backhauling of the data to the network core and further.
All this infrastructure is at a miniscule level at this point of time and would certainly take a couple of years to be fully on-ground.
Having said that, Fixed Broadband and 5G technologies by no means are competing technologies. These will actually complement each other. Advanced technologies in fixed Broadband like XGS-PON are capable of delivering upstream and downstream speeds of10Gbps,way above 5 G speeds and at low latency levels.
Both the technologies will co-exist, serving different needs of the customers while on the move or working inside an office/home.
Fixed Broadband roll out is generally known to be slow paced due to associated challenges on account of securing right-of-way, trenching work and laying of cables. How is Spectranet managing rollout of FBB services? .
At Spectranet, we fully well understand the on-ground challenges and have been addressing these by deploying multiple technologies – HomeFibre ( FTTx) and FibreOnAir ( WTTx).
The latter is used in dense areas and helps in expediting roll outs of FBB. By this dual technology approach, we are able to deliver high quality internet services at a rapid pace.
What are your greatest challenges in offering FTTx services and how best could the challenges be addressed?
Nigeria has made rapid strides in mobile broadband penetration, with the regulator NCC playing a key role in proactively driving this through relevant policy interventions. However, the story is completely different in Fixed Broadband space.
This industry is completely bogged down by the lack of unified and robust policy framework for granting right-of-way (ROW) and charges the operator needs to pay for laying optic fiber cables.
Different states have different approaches to these which effectively thwart quicker rollouts. Further Non-availability of affordable/ reliable metro and national optic fiber networks also poses a key constraint on offering high quality Fixed Broadband services.
Given the criticality of FBB in delivering high quality and affordable services to the homes, SMEs/MSMEs, a unified, nationwide policy can help unleash the potential of this sector.
Over the last 3-4 years after MNOs launched their 4G services, we have witnessed intense Data price wars and a significant reduction in Data prices. How is Spectranet defending itself?
This will need a bit of explaining to set the context right. In Nigeria the regulator has fixed a floor price for Voice calls and the operators cannot charge less than the floor price.
This wise move by the regulator has ensured that no operator indulges in predatory pricing hurting the profitability of the industry which is so critical to the creation of a digital economy.
Strikingly, there is no floor price yet fixed for Data prices and that is leading to an imbalance in the industry, favouring the bigger players. While the MNOs are using their floor price protected voice revenues to cross subsidize and slash data prices, ISPs like us are forced to drop prices to unsustainable levels in order to defend themselves.
Let’s be clear that ISPs are defending the indefensible if the regulator doesn’t intervene immediately and set a floor price for data to curb predatory pricing.
Isn’t a price war good from the customers’ view point?
I have said this earlier also and my views remain consistent.
War of any kind is destructive by nature. A price war is no exception. It is a short- sighted ploy to gain market share. In the near term, it may be touted as a “customer friendly “move but over a period of time a price war results in significant destruction of value for the industry, forcing the players to degrade quality of services.
A price war is not sustainable in the longer term and a lose-lose proposition for both the operators and the customers. The hapless customers finally end up at the receiving end and are made to suffer through poor quality of services.
At Spectranet, we stay committed to provide high-quality, high-speed broadband to our customers. We believe in delivering a superior customer experience through better understanding of their needs and through differentiated tariff plans backed by excellent customer service.
Spectranet is known for its superior customer service. What is your approach to customer service?
At Spectranet, we deeply acknowledge the fact that customer service is not just limited to putting up a call center but goes much beyond and that CS can be a powerful source of differentiation in the market place.
Customer service to us is not a reactive action but an organization wide mindset which gets embedded into all aspects of the business.
Secondly, we constantly remind ourselves that Customer Churn is just one bad experience away. We call such bad experiences “customer pain points” and assiduously work on getting down to the causative factors and addressing these.
Proactive customer service (anticipating customers’ needs and pain points) is like a religion at Spectranet. The focus always is on eliminating these pain points or bad experiences by staying ahead of the causative factors.
Another critical factor is the design of Customer Service Delivery (CSD) organization and the hierarchical distance from the front-end Customer Service Executive to the CEO.
At Spectranet we have managed to keep just two layers between CSE and CEO and that helps significantly in staying tuned to customers’ requirements in a proactive manner.
Telecom operators are itching to increase the cost of voice call, SMS and data services by 40 per cent. Are Internet Service Providers (ISPs) like Spectranet also thinking of a price hike in the cost of internet services?
Across all the industries the cost of doing business has seen a significant increase over the past few quarters. The cost of running the towers being a significant cost, the recent hike in the price of diesel has further exerted pressure on the bottom line.
As an industry, telecom has held the prices virtually constant over the last few years. In order to continue providing high quality services to our customers and continue to create direct and indirect employment to thousands of people, it’s imperative that survival of the industry is ensured through a price hike mitigating the impact of ballooning costs.
Nigeria has witnessed the landing of several submarine broadband cables in Lagos, with more still coming. How will these help Spectranet to offer better internet services to its customers?
It’s an extremely happy development, to say the least. Some of these companies are not only coming with landing station for their under-sea cables but also data centers.
Combination of these will help reduce costs of transiting traffic to the rest of the world but also bring in qualitative improvement by reducing latency.
We are hoping that more such players will also enter to provide intra-national lease line connectivity which still a major point of concern in terms of reliability and high costs. Just to substantiate, the cost of carrying data traffic from Abuja to Lagos is more than 3X the cost of carrying it from Lagos to USA!
what safety measures have Spectranet put in place to ensure security from Cyber attacks?
With more and more digitalization happening, the vulnerability to cyber attacks has increased for sure. Cyber Security threats caused by DDoS, Malware, Emotet etc. are quite common these days.
As an operator we take cyber security very seriously and have deployed sophisticated equipment to thwart and neutralize these threats. There are multiple layers of cyber security comprising latest generation of Firewalls and Intrusion Prevention systems which effectively neutralize such threats.
Telecom
NCC Wins Global ICT Award for Digital Awareness in Schools

Nigeria, through the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has won the 2025 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) prize for its project, the Digital Awareness Programme (DAP), under Category C3, which is on Access to Information and Knowledge.

L–R: Executive Vice Chairman/CEO of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Aminu Maida, receives the WSIS 2025 Prize (Category C3: Access to Information and Knowledge) from the Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Doreen Bogdan-Martin, following the selection of the Commission’s Digital Awareness Programme (DAP) as winner of the category.
The DAP, one of hundreds of projects submitted for the WSIS Prizes competition 2025, received the highest number of votes in its category, earning it the top honour. The programme equips secondary schools across the country with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) resources and provide internet connectivity to support teaching, learning, and research. Since inception in 2006, over 300 schools across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones have benefitted from the programme.
The Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida, received the award during the WSIS Prizes Winners 2025 Ceremony held on Monday in Geneva, Switzerland.
In his acceptance remarks, Dr. Maida thanked the hosts, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and WSIS, for recognising Nigeria’s efforts in promoting inclusive digital access across Nigeria, noting that the award would serve as further motivation for the Commission.
“This recognition is more than a celebration of past efforts—it is an encouragement to press forward. It affirms that investing in digital inclusion is investing in national development, and that Nigeria’s work is being seen and valued on the global stage,” Dr. Maida said.
Four other Nigerian projects—the Women Techsters and the Advanced Digital Empowerment Programme for Tertiary Institutions (ADEPTI) under Capacity Building, the Telecom-Based Research Grant Initiative under Enabling Environment, and the Digital Learning Initiative under e-Learning—were also celebrated for their nomination for the Champions Category of Projects at the WSIS Prizes Ceremony. Although they were not among the top-voted entries, they were acknowledged for their significant merit and impact.
The WSIS Prizes competition recognises and promotes projects that effectively leverage ICTs to advance sustainable development. The competition showcases how technology can serve as a powerful tool for addressing global challenges and achieving the SDGs. Projects from around the world are recognised annually, highlighting diverse approaches to building an inclusive information society.
The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) is a United Nations (UN) initiative aimed at building a people-centred, inclusive, and development-oriented information society. It provides a multi-stakeholder platform to address issues related to Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and their role in achieving sustainable development.
The Forum is an annual event that brings together high-level representatives from governments, the private sector, civil society, academia, the technical community, and international organisations. It serves as a global platform for implementing the WSIS Action Lines, which are aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Telecom
No More Excuses: NCC Sets Tough August Deadline to Tackle Telecom Hitches

Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has given telecom tower operators in the country August 2025 deadline to fix persistent network hitches in their facilities or face regulatory sanctions.
The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the commission, Dr. Aminu Maida, reportedly gave the ultimatum during a high-level meeting with key industry players, attended by representatives of IHS Towers, American Tower Corporation (ATC), and Pan-African Towers, and mobile network operators (MNOs) in Abuja
According to sources, discussions at the meeting focused on the recurring challenges in the telecoms sector, particularly power failures, equipment malfunctions, and insufficient site maintenance, that have been causing poor Internet and call services in the country
Specifically, Maida tasked the tower operators on the imperative of complying with the NCC’s updated Quality of Service (QoS) framework, which now extends performance obligations to infrastructure providers, not just telecom service providers.
According to him, the timeline given by the commission is more than enough time for all parties to align with the performance standards expected of them.
Recently, to ensure compliance with the standards, the NCC introduced a Major Incident Reporting Portal for real-time outage disclosures; developed public performance dashboards to enhance transparency; mandated that telecom tower companies meet strict Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
Although the tower operators had previously cited delayed payments from MNOs as a reason for service lapses, the NCC had dismissed the justification, insisting that all parties must meet their obligations.
The EVC maintained: “Operators must fulfill both their technical and financial responsibilities. Poor service delivery—regardless of internal disputes—will attract consequences.”
Available data on the telecom tower infrastructure shows that IHS Towers has the largest assets with 16,000–19,000 sites, (62% market share); compared to American Tower Corp’s (ATC’s) about 8,270 towers; and Pan-African Towers’ 760–1,000 sites nationwide.
The latest NCC’s August deadline is believed to be putting pressures on the tower operators to improve the quality of their facilities for improved services as the commission had hinted of its plan to sanction defaulting operators with fines or stricter regulatory actions.
Industry experts believe that the NCC’s directive is a welcomed development as it will ensure reliable Internet connectivity and improved services quality for telecom consumers in the country.
Telecom
NCC to Chart MVNO Growth Path at Telecom Sustainability Forum 6.0

Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is set to play a pivotal role at the upcoming 6th edition of the Telecom Sector Sustainability Forum (TSSF 6.0), where it will lead a critical discussion on the sustainable growth of Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) in Nigeria.
Set against a backdrop of innovation and opportunity, this forum, organized by Business Remarks, aptly themed “Unlocking Nigeria’s MVNO Potential: Status, Trends, Investment, and Future Prospects,” is scheduled for August 26, 2025. This event reinforces the nation’s commitment to fostering a robust, competitive, and inclusive telecommunications landscape.
The forum will bring together a diverse array of key stakeholders from across the telecom ecosystem to deliberate on strategies for integrating MVNOs effectively into Nigeria’s rapidly evolving digital economy. With the recent advancements in technology and the issuance of 43 MVNO licenses to new players, MVNOs are poised to significantly enhance service delivery, drive digital transformation, penetrate underserved markets, and stimulate healthy competition across the sector.
As the global MVNO market is experiencing significant growth, with projections indicating continued expansion, experts believe that with the right regulatory environment and access to infrastructure, emerging markets like Nigeria can leverage MVNOs to unlock new value for both operators (by utilizing excess network capacity) and customers. Customers can enjoy a rich array of niche value-added services tailored to their needs.
Having been proactive in introducing a five-tier MVNO licensing classification, each with distinct services and a 10-year validity period, signaling a clear path for new entrants, the telecom regulator (NCC) will deliver a keynote address outlining the Commission’s regulatory framework, interventions, and commitment to ensuring a conducive environment for MVNO operations.
Mrs. Bukola Olanrewaju, Convener of the forum and Managing Editor of Business Remarks, emphasized the importance of collaboration. “TSSF 6.0 is designed to be a melting pot of ideas, bringing together Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), MVNOs, telecoms infrastructure providers, Internet Service Providers, industry associations, and technology experts,” she said.
“Our goal is to ignite discussions that will shape the future of MVNOs in Nigeria, ensuring their sustainable growth and their critical role in extending digital prosperity across the nation.”
The forum will feature interactive sessions, thought-provoking panel discussions, insightful paper presentations, and abundant networking opportunities. This event aims to provide a platform for stakeholders to share insights, address challenges, and explore collaborative pathways for sustainable growth.
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