AIRTEL RAMPS UP NETWORK EXPANSION TO MEET NIGERIA’S SURGING DATA DEMAND

 AIRTEL RAMPS UP NETWORK EXPANSION TO MEET NIGERIA’S SURGING DATA DEMAND


Airtel Nigeria has intensified the expansion of its fibre, 4G, and 5G network infrastructure in response to Nigeria’s rapidly rising demand for mobile and internet services, reinforcing its long-term strategy to deliver improved quality of service nationwide.

The telecommunications operator disclosed this during its first media roundtable of 2026 held in Lagos, where company executives outlined sustained investments made over the past two years and plans to further scale operations in support of Nigeria’s growing digital economy.

Chief Executive Officer of Airtel Nigeria, Dinesh Balsingh, said the company’s network strategy is built around scale, resilience, and service reliability.

According to him, consistent investments across the network are already yielding measurable improvements in performance, customer experience, and coverage, particularly in underserved and hard-to-reach communities.

He noted that Airtel is accelerating network upgrades in 2026 to keep pace with increasing data consumption across the country, adding that long-term industry leadership would depend on proactive infrastructure planning.

Since December 2023, Airtel Nigeria has increased the number of its network sites by 15.5 per cent, adding 2,242 new locations to reach nearly 16,711 sites nationwide. The company also completed capacity upgrades on about 30 per cent of its sites in the past year, covering over 5,000 locations, while stating that 99 per cent of its network now delivers high-speed 4G mobile broadband.

Chief Technology Officer, Harmanpreet Singh Dhillon, highlighted ongoing spectrum optimisation efforts, noting that Airtel recently expanded its 4G spectrum capacity by 10MHz to support higher data throughput, improved speeds, and more consistent service in high-traffic areas.

The telecom operator is also accelerating its 5G rollout, with the number of active 5G sites more than doubling in the last three months. Airtel plans to extend 5G coverage to Nigeria’s top 20 cities before the end of the year.

Beyond terrestrial infrastructure, Airtel is expanding connectivity through satellite partnerships with OneWeb and Starlink. The company recently announced Nigeria’s first Direct-to-Cell collaboration with Starlink, aimed at improving connectivity in remote and rural communities and enabling access to digital and financial services.

In addition, Airtel is expanding its fibre network nationwide, with plans to increase fibre coverage by 25 per cent following a significant rise in capital expenditure. Deployment efforts are being intensified across major urban centres and interstate corridors.

Balsingh also disclosed plans to enhance Nigeria’s internet resilience through a second submarine cable landing in the southern part of the country via the 2Africa cable system, starting from Kwa Ibo in Akwa Ibom State. The project is expected to improve redundancy and connectivity speeds across both northern and southern regions.

To support its infrastructure drive, Airtel operates an enterprise-grade private cloud platform for large-scale data storage, computing, and AI-driven applications, including fraud detection and intelligent network optimisation. The company is also planning a 38-megawatt, hyperscaler-ready data centre in Eko Atlantic as part of preparations for Nigeria’s next phase of digital growth.

Airtel currently maintains one of the largest retail networks in Nigeria, with products available across more than 200,000 outlets, over 4,000 exclusive shops, and about 250 flagship stores nationwide.

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