Nigeria’s telecommunications industry attracted over $1 billion in capital investment in 2025, leading to the deployment of more than 2,850 new network sites across the country, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
The Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Dr Aminu Maida, said the investments expanded network coverage and capacity and contributed to noticeable improvements in service quality in the fourth quarter of 2025.
The disclosure followed the release of the NCC’s fourth-quarter 2025 Network Performance Reports, developed in collaboration with global internet analytics firm Ookla. The reports assessed real-world network performance across urban centres, rural communities, highways and emerging 5G zones.
Maida said the findings showed steady gains in network quality, with improvements in median download speeds in both urban and rural areas compared to the previous quarter. He also noted a narrowing gap in video Quality of Experience between urban and rural users, alongside continued strengthening of the country’s 4G network backbone.
According to him, the reports provide critical insights that help the commission identify performance gaps and guide targeted regulatory actions, including spectrum optimisation, infrastructure upgrades, quality-of-service enforcement and rural connectivity expansion.
He said much of the progress recorded in the reports was directly linked to the industry’s investment of over $1 billion in 2025, which resulted in the rollout of thousands of new network sites nationwide.
Maida reaffirmed the NCC’s commitment to transparent, data-driven regulation aimed at improving Nigeria’s digital ecosystem.
However, he acknowledged ongoing challenges in areas such as 5G availability, upload speeds and overall mobile coverage, noting that the commission is engaging operators to address the gaps.
He added that telecom operators have committed to exceed their 2025 investment levels in 2026, signalling sustained capital inflows to support further network expansion and service quality improvements.
