Nigeria’s telecommunications industry is entering another stage of expansion, with total investment in the sector now exceeding $75 billion as growing data usage, broadband adoption and digital services increase pressure on existing infrastructure.
The sector has evolved significantly over the past two decades, moving beyond its traditional focus on voice calls to become an essential part of financial services, e-commerce, transportation, education, logistics and several other areas of the economy. The increasing dependence on digital connectivity is, however, creating the need for more investment and stronger infrastructure.
Managing Director of Financial Derivatives Company (FDC), Bismarck Rewane, recently highlighted the scale of the industry’s growth, noting that telecommunications investment had increased from about $500 million when the sector was liberalised to more than $75 billion.
The changing pattern of telecoms usage is also evident in Nigeria’s data consumption. Although the number of active mobile subscriptions remains below its peak before 2024, the volume of data being consumed has continued to rise considerably, suggesting that consumers are using their connections for increasingly data-intensive activities.
Industry figures showed that monthly data traffic increased from about 615,207 terabytes in July 2023 to 1.66 million terabytes in July 2026. This represents an increase of roughly 170 per cent within three years.
Over the same period, active mobile subscriptions fell by 25.75 million to 195.11 million. Despite the decline in active lines, broadband adoption continued to expand.
Broadband subscriptions rose from 89.73 million in July 2023 to 124.42 million in July 2026, while broadband penetration increased from 47.01 per cent to 57.40 per cent.
The figures indicate that the sector’s growth is increasingly being driven by how intensively Nigerians use internet services rather than simply by the number of mobile lines connected to networks.
Telecommunications has also become more closely connected to Nigeria’s wider economic performance. The country’s economy recorded real growth of 4.43 per cent in the second quarter of 2026, with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) identifying information and communication among the sectors contributing to the expansion.
The information and communication sector recorded real growth of 9.62 per cent during the quarter, reflecting the growing role of digital activities in the economy.
Connectivity now supports a wide range of economic activities, including digital payments, online shopping, cloud services, remote employment, logistics, education and technology-based businesses.
However, increasing demand is also exposing shortcomings in the physical infrastructure needed to provide reliable connectivity across the country.
Nigeria currently has more than 101,000 kilometres of fibre infrastructure and approximately 57,756 base transceiver station sites across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. Despite this, fibre deployment remains uneven across the country.
Lagos accounts for more than 11,500 kilometres of deployed fibre, while some states have less than 1,000 kilometres. This highlights the difference between areas that attract significant commercial investment and locations where digital infrastructure remains less developed.
Right of Way (RoW) charges have also remained an issue for telecommunications operators and infrastructure investors. Although the Nigerian Governors’ Forum agreed to a benchmark charge of N145 per linear metre, some states continue to charge considerably more.
Ogun, Kano, Delta, Rivers and Akwa Ibom are among the states recording charges above the agreed benchmark, adding to the cost of deploying telecommunications infrastructure.
The industry is also dealing with frequent damage to fibre networks. More than 5,000 fibre cuts were recorded during the first half of 2026, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). Road construction, excavation and other civil works were among the causes identified.
For network operators, repeated fibre damage means additional repair and maintenance expenses while also creating the possibility of service interruptions for consumers and businesses.
The problem becomes more significant as more economic activities depend on stable internet connectivity and businesses increasingly require uninterrupted digital services.
To address some of these infrastructure challenges, the Federal Government is pursuing plans to expand the country’s fibre backbone through Project BRIDGE.
The initiative is designed to support the deployment of approximately 90,000 kilometres of fibre infrastructure across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, with the aim of connecting more than 770 local government areas.
The Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy has described the project as part of efforts to tackle structural connectivity challenges and develop open-access infrastructure capable of supporting further broadband expansion.
Fixed broadband is also gradually expanding through fibre-to-the-x (FTTX) connections. NCC data showed that Nigeria recorded 319,735 FTTX subscriptions in the second quarter of 2026, indicating continued growth in fixed broadband alongside mobile internet services.
The next challenge for Nigeria’s telecommunications industry is therefore extending beyond attracting investment. The focus is increasingly shifting towards ensuring that the capital already invested, as well as future investments, produces reliable infrastructure, affordable broadband and broader participation in the digital economy.
The sector’s transformation, highlighted by the growth in investment from about $500 million to more than $75 billion, demonstrates the scale of capital committed to telecommunications over the years.
With data consumption rising significantly faster than the number of mobile subscribers, future investment is likely to place greater emphasis on broadband capacity, fibre networks, data centres, cloud infrastructure and other technologies required to support Nigeria’s rapidly expanding digital economy.
Source: Industry data
