The telecom sector is facing renewed regulatory pressure as authorities push operators to step up investment amid persistent network strain and rising data demand, JUSTICE OKAMGBA reports
Nigeria’s telecom regulator is pressing mobile operators to inject additional capital into their networks, escalating pressure on an industry already engaged in a multi-billion-dollar investment cycle but still struggling to keep pace with surging data demand and persistent service quality gaps.
The directive from the Nigerian Communications Commission reflects growing concern that, while recent infrastructure spending has delivered some improvements, these gains have not yet been fully felt by users across Africa’s largest mobile market.
The NCC Executive Vice Chairman, Aminu Maida, said operators must go beyond existing capital expenditure plans and commit new funds to expand capacity, particularly in high-traffic urban corridors.
“Operators need to continue to bring fresh capital into the network,” Maida said in a breakfast meeting with journalists in Lagos. “The improvements we are seeing are real, but they are not yet sufficient to match the scale of demand growth.”
His comments reflect a shift in regulatory tone towards more explicit pressure on investment outcomes, as the NCC moves from monitoring quality-of-service metrics to actively influencing capital allocation in the sector.
Nigeria’s three dominant operators, MTN Nigeria, Airtel Nigeria and Globacom, are in the middle of a renewed infrastructure build-out, although the scale and transparency of spending vary considerably.
For 2025 as a whole, the country’s biggest operator, MTN Nigeria, disclosed roughly N1tn in network-related capital expenditure, more than double the prior year. The spending programme is focused on expanding 4G capacity, densifying congested urban networks, strengthening fibre backhaul, and upgrading core infrastructure to support rising data consumption.
Airtel Nigeria has taken a more cyclical approach. After reducing capital expenditure to about $168m in the year to March 2025, from $252m a year earlier, the company has begun to ramp up investment again. In the second quarter of 2025, Airtel Africa reported $39m in Nigerian capex, slightly above $38m a year earlier, signalling early-stage reacceleration. The operator has separately outlined plans to more than double investment in Nigeria to over N500bn in 2025, targeting 5G rollout, 4G expansion, fibre backhaul, and rural site deployment.
Globacom, which does not publish detailed financial breakdowns, continues to invest through network expansion and backbone infrastructure upgrades. Industry estimates point to sustained capital deployment, anchored by Globacom’s Glo-1 submarine cable, a major fibre-optic backbone linking Nigeria to the United Kingdom. The operator is also believed to maintain one of the largest tower portfolios in the market, with ongoing incremental expansion and upgrades indicating continued network investment.
Despite the investment push, regulators say network improvements are being eroded by accelerating data consumption. Usage growth, driven by video streaming, social media and cloud-based applications, is outpacing capacity expansion in several urban centres, creating a structural imbalance where incremental upgrades are quickly absorbed by demand.
Maida said the industry must shift from reactive expansion to building surplus capacity.
“If you only build for current demand, you will always be behind the curve,” he said.
The NCC has attempted to ease pressure on networks by reallocating spectrum, freeing up around 100 MHz of additional bandwidth for operators. Lower frequency bands are being used to extend coverage, while higher bands are improving urban capacity. However, officials acknowledge that spectrum efficiency alone is insufficient without deeper fibre penetration, which remains limited relative to demand.
Fibre infrastructure is increasingly seen as critical to reducing reliance on costly diesel-powered base stations and improving long-term network resilience. Industry participants argue that without significant fibre expansion, mobile networks will remain structurally constrained.
The regulator is also tightening enforcement around capital expenditure, requiring operators to invest beyond previously announced budgets. Independent audits will be used to verify reported spending and ensure funds are deployed into physical infrastructure rather than reclassified operational costs.
The NCC has also introduced more granular quality monitoring, shifting from state-level assessments to local government-level tracking to better isolate underperforming areas. Consumer compensation for poor service has been activated as part of a broader accountability framework, adding financial consequences for sustained service failures.
The investment cycle is unfolding against a difficult macroeconomic backdrop. Telecom operators remain heavily exposed to foreign exchange volatility due to reliance on imported equipment from global suppliers such as Ericsson and Nokia. Currency depreciation has raised the cost of network expansion and complicated long-term planning, even as data traffic accelerates.
Despite these pressures, operators continue to commit significant capital. MTN’s trillion-naira capex programme and Airtel’s expansion plan signal a sector-wide push to stabilise network performance.
Taken together, Nigeria’s telecom sector is entering a capital-intensive phase of restructuring, where service quality improvements are increasingly dependent on sustained investment rather than incremental fixes. The NCC’s demand for fresh capital effectively signals a second phase of reform: moving beyond liberalisation and competition towards enforced infrastructure deepening in a market where demand is structurally outpacing supply.
While investment momentum is clearly building, regulators argue it remains insufficient relative to consumption growth. The result is a sector in transition, expanding rapidly, but still struggling to close the gap between capacity and demand.