Nigerians are groaning over worsening telecommunications service even as the country’s major mobile network operators prepare to roll out a $1 billion infrastructure upgrade aimed at reversing the decline.
Across cities and rural communities, complaints of dropped calls, failed transaction alerts, slow data speeds, and outright network blackouts have intensified in the current year, despite a significant increase in the cost of telecom services earlier in the year.
Earlier in January 2025, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) approved a long-awaited tariff hike, raising the floor price for calls from N6.40 to N9.60 per minute, SMS from N4 to N6, and the cost of 1GB of data from N287.50 to N431.25. It was the first price adjustment in over a decade and was intended to help telecom operators absorb surging operational costs fuelled by inflation, energy crises, and forex constraints.
The result, however, has been mixed. While the hike granted operators some financial relief, subscribers have seen no corresponding improvement in service delivery.
A student of Yabatech, Fred Olumide told LEADERSHIP, that, “The quality of service is at its all-time low, and yet the prices have skyrocketed. You buy data and within minutes, it is gone. You try to call someone; the call does not connect but your credit is deducted.”
On social media, users are equally vocal. One user, tweeting from @primeliteoffice, stated: “Many times, you cannot even get up to 1Mbps. Fix your service or quit entirely.”
Another user, @Mrskachii, shared her ordeal: “I have been dealing with terrible network for over a week now. Since yesterday, I could not call or receive calls. It is infuriating.”
Nwosu, a tech-savvy professional, questioned the silence around poor service delivery. “I am still shocked that nobody is complaining about how terrible the internet services from our telcos have been in recent months. You step out of the house and cannot even hold a call without disruption. This is not it,” he wrote.
Even key transit corridors are affected. A university student, added that; “Our network infrastructure is so poor that on a two-hour train ride from Lagos to Ibadan, you cannot maintain a stable signal for more than a few minutes.”
In his reaction, the president of the National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers (NATCOMS), Deolu Ogunbanjo told LEADERSHIP that network disruptions, call failures, and delayed alerts have become rampant across all service providers.
“You could be doing a financial transaction, and suddenly the network disappears. You try again, you get charged multiple times. Sometimes you get a refund, but many times you don’t. It is a digital nightmare, ” he stressed.
Ogunbanjo attributed the crisis to underinvestment in infrastructure, lack of effective regulation, and now, a return to punitive taxation in the form of the reintroduced five percent telecom excise duty. NATCOMS is currently challenging the excise tax in court, arguing that it will only deepen consumer pain.
Responding to public outcry, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has assured Nigerians that relief is in sight.
According to the executive vice chairman, Dr. Aminu Maida, major mobile operators have committed N$1billion to import new network equipment, to modernise their infrastructure, reduce congestion, and improve connectivity nationwide.
“The equipment has already started arriving since June, and deployment is ongoing. We expect significant improvement in service quality by the fourth quarter of 2025,” Maida said.
He explained that the scale of the operation is massive, involving thousands of base stations, new fibre optic links, and backhaul enhancements across Nigeria’s vast geography.
“As the regulator, we are holding operators accountable to their deployment timelines. Nigerians deserve better, and we are working with all stakeholders to ensure this investment delivers measurable improvements,” he assured.
In a related move, 9mobile and MTN Nigeria have entered into a landmark infrastructure-sharing agreement, the first of its kind in the country.
The deal, backed by the NCC, allows 9mobile to use MTN’s extensive radio access network infrastructure to deliver improved nationwide coverage while maintaining its independent billing and core systems.
Industry analysts have hailed the partnership as a shift from wasteful competition to smart collaboration in a sector long plagued by duplication and underinvestment.
The agreement is already in its test phase, with a full rollout expected nationwide by the end of July 2025. The move is expected to fast-track 9mobile’s network expansion, particularly in areas where it has historically lacked coverage.
Observers say, this co-opetition model, where firms cooperate on infrastructure but compete on pricing and service, is a potential game-changer for Nigeria’s telecom ecosystem.
But for technology analyst Jide Awe, while applauding the partnership between 9mobile and MTN, he lamented that, the root of Nigeria’s telecom problem goes beyond equipment. “Yes, we welcome the investment, but we must address the systemic issues, which are policy inconsistency, digital exclusion, and poor planning,” Awe said.
He warned that urban centres might be the only ones to benefit from the ongoing upgrade, as millions in rural Nigeria remain cut off from reliable network access.
“Digital access is still a privilege in many parts of this country. The divide is growing, and without targeted policies to bring everyone online, we are only deepening inequality,” he stated.
Awe also questioned the government’s long-term strategy on local content, saying: “We are still importing what we can manufacture locally. From SIM cards to fibre cables, we need to revive and protect domestic production if we are serious about sustainable digital development.”
