Telecom Sector Sees Gains

DAYO OMOOGUN highlights the remarkable improvement in the telecommunications sector over recent decades.

As Nigerians celebrate another Democracy Day after 27 years of democratic governance, the occasion offers a chance to pause and assess the gains and challenges that have shaped the country. Various metrics can be used to evaluate progress or regression, helping to determine whether our journey has been one of “motion without movement.”

Many Nigerians tend to focus on missed opportunities and lament the lack of progress, but the full picture is more nuanced. By choosing our perspective deliberately, we can see whether our outlook is half full or half empty. While there are areas that have seen limited change, some sectors have experienced profound transformation.

One such area is telecommunications. The sector has moved from a time when elite voices declared that phones were not for the poor and ownership was a status symbol, to a reality in which ordinary people such as Bose, Emeka, and Aliyu maintain active phone lines. The mindset of most Nigerians has shifted to view the phone as a necessity and essential tool for life and business rather than a luxury.

Below are some of the gains in the sector, largely driven by the regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

Official figures show that Nigeria now has 185 million active phone lines. With a population estimated at about 230 million and fewer than half a million lines at the start of this revolution more than 20 years ago, the transformation is evident.

On the data side, records indicate that Nigerians use an average of 45,800 terabytes daily, according to March 2026 figures. One terabyte equals 1 million megabytes or 1,000 gigabytes.

This sector is not only growing but also developing. The Commission employs tools and policies to improve both quantity and quality.

The Commission actively deploys Quality of Service (QoS) and Quality of Experience (QoE) assessments to monitor provider performance and consumer satisfaction, enabling it to take corrective action when service falls below acceptable standards.

In a recent move, the Commission compelled mobile network operators to compensate millions of consumers nationwide for poor service when quality dropped below the acceptable threshold. For many, this was a welcome change, breaking a pattern of systemic weakness that had become the norm, as Nigerians had grown accustomed to being cheated, oppressed, or defrauded with little recourse.

The NCC further empowered consumers by directing mobile network operators and major internet service providers to inform customers in advance of any major network outages or planned service disruptions. When outages occur, operators must provide details such as the cause, affected locations, and estimated restoration time. These and other policies demonstrate that the Commission does not take consumers lightly. “Good regulation should be conducive to business and to customer protection,” says Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan Chase & Co. This balancing skill of harmonizing the varied interests of stakeholders has been the hallmark of the Nigerian Communications Commission’s regulatory strategy. In a decisive move in 2025, the Commission addressed network providers’ demands and consumers’ calls for better service by approving a 50 percent tariff hike and securing telcos’ commitment to expand infrastructure for improved service delivery.

Following that intervention, over $1 billion was invested in network upgrades covering 2,866 sites, ending a prolonged period of under‑investment in the sector. Operators have pledged to activate 12,000 new sites, of which more than 3,000 have already been deployed. The result has been a noticeable reduction in dropped calls, a fact that everyday consumers can attest to, while sluggish internet speeds are gradually improving. When the remaining 9,000 sites planned for 2026 are completed, service quality is expected to rise significantly.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s designation of telecommunications infrastructure as the Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII) is a commendable step aimed at protecting investments and minimizing service disruptions caused by vandalism.

The Commission is currently conducting a comprehensive review of the National Telecommunications Policy of 2000, as directed by its supervising ministry—the Ministry of Communication, Innovation and Digital Economy—indicating that an even better operating framework is forthcoming.

Omoogun writes from Lagos