The scale of data revenue generated by Nigeria\u2019s two largest telecom operators highlights the economic importance of mobile broadband and the infrastructure investment required to sustain it.\n<\/p>\n
MTN Nigeria reported N2.68 trillion in data revenue for the nine months ended September 2026, representing a 35.8 percent increase year-on-year. Data contributed more than half of its total revenue during the period.\n<\/p>\n
Airtel Nigeria, whose financial year runs from April to March, generated approximately N1.06 trillion in data revenue between January and September 2026.\n<\/p>\n
Its data revenue increased by 52.7 percent during the April-September half-year to N732.6 billion, from N480.7 billion in the corresponding period.\n<\/p>\n
Together, the operators generated N3.74 trillion, demonstrating how central internet consumption has become to their earnings.<\/p>\n
Yet the revenue figures also raise an important infrastructure question: whether network investments are expanding at a sufficient pace to accommodate the traffic growth driving these earnings.\n<\/p>\n
MTN\u2019s nine-month financial results provide one indication of the investment picture. Its capital expenditure declined 5 percent year-on-year to N1.188 trillion, although capital expenditure excluding leases increased by 14.2 percent.\n<\/p>\n
The distinction is important because headline capital expenditure alone does not establish how much additional network capacity has been deployed in Nigeria, how much has gone into maintaining existing infrastructure or whether investment is reaching congested locations.\n<\/p>\n
A similar assessment of Airtel\u2019s Nigerian infrastructure expenditure, including spending on transmission, fibre, base stations and network upgrades, would be necessary to establish whether the industry\u2019s investment trajectory is matching the growth in data demand.\n<\/p>\n
The NCC\u2019s proposed framework could therefore become an important test of whether regulatory incentives can translate record telecom revenues into tangible improvements in network infrastructure.<\/p>\n
Read also:\u00a0Nigeria\u2019s telecom market reclaims 200m lines two years after 70m SIM disconnections<\/a>\n<\/p>\n NCC seeks investment commitments in exchange for longer licences<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n Under the proposed IBSIF, the commission is considering longer spectrum licence tenures as one of several incentives to encourage additional infrastructure investment.\n<\/p>\n The regulator said the proposal was not primarily about reducing spectrum prices but ensuring that the value of spectrum generates wider economic benefits through broadband expansion.\n<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not really per se that we are reducing the price of spectrum. Our focus instead is ensuring that value delivers on network investments and broadband expansion,\u201d officials said.<\/p>\n The proposed arrangement would require operators to demonstrate additional investments beyond their existing licence obligations.\n<\/p>\n These commitments could cover new network deployments, increased capacity in congested areas, improved geographical coverage and measurable improvements in quality of service.\n<\/p>\n The commission said eligible investments would have to be additional, measurable and enforceable, rather than spending operators had already planned or were legally required to undertake.\n<\/p>\n This distinction will be critical in determining whether the framework delivers new infrastructure or simply rewards operators for investments they would have made anyway.\n<\/p>\n The NCC also indicated that the value of spectrum-related incentives would be assessed against the investments required from individual operators, although it did not disclose a fixed financial threshold or percentage.<\/p>\n A consultation paper has been published to obtain feedback from operators, consumers and other industry stakeholders before the framework is finalised and gradually implemented.\n<\/p>\n Network complaints expose the cost of capacity constraints<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n The urgency of improving infrastructure is also reflected in subscriber complaints. NCC data show that MTN and Airtel recorded a combined 489,197 complaints between January and September 2026.\n<\/p>\n Of these, 302,863 related to data and voice quality, accounting for approximately 62 percent of the complaints filed against the two operators.\n<\/p>\n Airtel accounted for 328,349 complaints across its platforms, including 246,162 relating to network quality, while MTN recorded 160,848 complaints, of which 56,701 concerned data and voice quality.<\/p>\n Although the figures do not independently establish the underlying causes of network failures, they illustrate the scale of dissatisfaction accompanying the industry\u2019s growing data business.\n<\/p>\n The complaints also highlight the distinction between expanding network coverage and improving the actual experience of subscribers.\n<\/p>\n An operator may extend its footprint into new communities while existing customers in densely populated urban areas continue to experience congestion because available network capacity has not expanded sufficiently.\n<\/p>\n This creates a difficult investment equation for operators, which must balance commercially attractive urban deployments with the cost of extending infrastructure to underserved communities.\n<\/p>\n The NCC\u2019s proposed framework attempts to address both challenges by recognising improvements in network capacity as well as investments that expand geographical coverage.<\/p>\n Read also:\u00a0NCC Introduces investment-based spectrum framework to push telecom operators into underserved areas<\/a>\n<\/p>\n Investment incentives face implementation hurdles<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n However, longer spectrum licences alone may not resolve Nigeria\u2019s infrastructure challenges.\n<\/p>\n Telecom operators continue to contend with high energy costs, fibre-optic cable cuts, infrastructure damage, right-of-way charges and delays in obtaining approvals for network deployment.\n<\/p>\n These constraints increase the cost of maintaining existing infrastructure and deploying new sites, potentially weakening the impact of spectrum-related incentives.<\/p>\n The NCC acknowledged that IBSIF would operate alongside other interventions covering fibre deployment, infrastructure sharing, state-level approvals and the protection of telecommunications infrastructure.\n<\/p>\n The commission also noted that predictable operating conditions were necessary for operators to make long-term investment decisions, arguing that isolated reductions in right-of-way charges would not necessarily translate into new infrastructure if other deployment costs remained uncertain.\n<\/p>\n Some locations may also remain commercially unattractive even with regulatory incentives, meaning public intervention through universal-service programmes will continue to be necessary.\n<\/p>\n For smaller and regional operators, the commission said the framework could accommodate geographically limited investment commitments rather than imposing nationwide obligations.\n<\/p>\n However, the treatment of existing spectrum holders, eligibility conditions and the potential effect of longer licences on competition will require careful consideration during the consultation process.<\/p>\n The NCC has also proposed independent technical and financial audits, quarterly reporting, compliance checks and crowdsourced network performance measurements to verify operators\u2019 commitments.\n<\/p>\n What remains unclear is the precise mechanism for penalising operators that receive incentives but fail to deliver promised investments, including whether the commission could recover benefits, revise licence extensions or impose other sanctions.\n<\/p>\n These safeguards will determine whether the framework becomes a genuine investment instrument or another regulatory concession without sufficiently enforceable public benefits.\n<\/p>\n Ultimately, Nigeria\u2019s N3.74 trillion data market presents a significant opportunity for the telecommunications industry, but sustaining that growth will depend on the infrastructure supporting it.\n<\/p>\n For subscribers, the success of the NCC\u2019s proposal will not be measured by whether operators receive five additional years on their spectrum licences, but if those years can produce faster internet, fewer dropped calls and more reliable connectivity.<\/p>\n Royal Ibeh is a senior journalist with years of experience reporting on Nigeria\u2019s technology and health sectors. She currently covers the Technology and Health beats for BusinessDay newspaper, where she writes in-depth stories on digital innovation, telecom infrastructure, healthcare systems, and public health policies.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Source: <\/p>\n Nigeria\u2019s booming mobile data market is generating billions of naira daily for telecom operators, but mounting network congestion and persistent service complaints are raising questions about whether infrastructure investment is… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16989,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16988\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Related News<\/h4>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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