Airtel Achieves 99 Per cent 4G Coverage Across Nigeria

Airtel Nigeria over the weekend, disclosed that 99 per cent of its sites now deliver high-speed 4G mobile broadband.

Speaking at a media parley in Lagos, the managing director and chief executive officer, Mr Dinesh Balsingh, said the operator is now a full nationwide 4G network provider.

He further disclosed that since December 2023, the operator has increased its sites by 15.5 per cent, adding 2,242 new locations to bring its total to nearly 16,711 nationwide, with further deployments planned across urban and rural communities in 2026.

Similarly, the network capacity upgrades have also reached significant scale. In 2025, Airtel enhanced capacity on 30 per cent of its sites, covering over 5,032 locations nationwide.

The Company’s CEO who unveiled a comprehensive update on its network, fibre and technology investments, said the upgrades executed over the last 12 to 24 months are designed to strengthen capacity, expand coverage and reinforce long-term resilience across the country’s telecommunications landscape.

“Over the last two years, we have invested with discipline and clarity to strengthen our network nationwide. Those investments are now translating into measurable improvements in performance, customer experience and reach, including in underserved and hard-to-reach communities,” Balsingh said.

He added that the pace of upgrades will intensify in 2026, stressing that, “Nigeria’s data appetite is growing, and leadership in this industry will belong to those who plan ahead. That is why we are accelerating these upgrades to stay ahead of demand.”

Also speaking, the chief technology officer, Harmanpreet Singh Dhillon, said spectrum depth remains critical to performance.

“We have increased our 4G spectrum by 10MHz and we are actively optimising our holdings. These actions allow us to support higher data throughput, better speeds and more consistent service, especially in high-traffic areas,” he said.

Airtel is also accelerating its 5G rollout, with the number of active 5G sites more than doubling in the last three months. The upgrade is set to connect the top 20 Nigerian cities, with a significant portion of Airtel’s network in these locations becoming 5G-enabled within the coming year.

Airtel is also expanding its fibre backbone across almost all states. Following its decision to double capital expenditure, the company committed to growing its fibre network by 25 per cent, with intensive rollout ongoing across cities and inter-state routes.

Airtel further announced plans to activate a second internet breakout from the South via the 2Africa submarine cable, with traffic to be carried from Kwa-IAkwa Ibom State. “This will create a faster and alternative path for large parts of the North and South and improve resilience for the entire ecosystem,” Balsingh said.