Nigeria’s telecommunications industry faces a host of challenges—vandalism, site shutdowns, fibre optic cable cuts, steep multiple taxation, and inflated Right of Way (RoW) fees. However, unreliable grid electricity stands out as the most pressing issue hampering progress.
Currently, telecom companies devote approximately 30 percent of their operating budgets just to power their 40,000+ base transceiver stations (BTS) scattered nationwide.
Addressing attendees at the GITEX Nigeria 2025 conference and exhibition, Ayham Mousa, Chief Operating Officer of MTN Nigeria, highlighted how insufficient energy supply to base stations directly translates to network issues, compromising the quality of telecom services. “No operator can afford to neglect power supply at their sites,” Mousa emphasized.
He elaborated that 20 to 30 percent of operating costs are tied up in guaranteed power supply at telecom sites, and about 70 percent of network outages stem from energy failures—often compounded by fibre cuts and acts of vandalism.
Mousa also noted the difficulties involved with expanding fibre infrastructure across Nigeria. He called for unified RoW charges, arguing that harmonization would accelerate telecom expansion to even the most remote parts of the country.
“A large share of our investment goes into making our network accessible countrywide. Roughly 20 percent of our efforts are concentrated here—because without network availability, customers can’t make calls or connect in emergencies, which is a serious safety risk. Power issues are behind 70 percent of our network downtimes,” Mousa explained.
“Every day, we contend with fibre cuts. Nigeria has about 40,000 kilometres of fibre, vital to national connectivity. MTN alone has recorded 5,700 fibre cuts in the past six months,” he stated, underscoring the urgent need for public awareness and collaboration to protect critical telecom infrastructure.
Speaking at a recent industry forum, Dr. Aminu Maida, Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), also underlined the sector’s heavy dependence on energy as a crucial factor in improving service quality.
Maida said, “The telecom sector consumes over 40 million litres of diesel each month. While the new Dangote refinery brings some hope, the sector’s sustainability will remain in jeopardy unless we diversify our energy sources beyond diesel.”
His remarks echo the worries expressed by industry leaders and policymakers: if the ongoing energy crisis isn’t addressed, it could undermine Nigeria’s advances in broadband, mobile money, and digital inclusion.
To combat the rising incidence of fibre cuts, Eghosa Urhoghide—Managing Director and CEO of the Edo State ICT Agency—shared hard-won lessons: “Anyone operating a fibre network in Nigeria is bound to encounter cuts. In Edo State alone, we have about 1,500 kilometres of fibre ducts.”
He credited their success in reducing cable vandalism to two major strategies: building partnerships with local communities so that residents see telecom infrastructure as their own—and take pride in protecting it—and investing in government and private sector-backed fibre ducts that offset expensive up-front capital costs.
“Laying fibre can account for 70 to 80 percent of total deployment costs. When state governments, with private sector support, invest in these projects, it dramatically reduces operational expenses. The benefits are especially significant for major states, and eventually, for smaller ones too,” Urhoghide explained.
He called for action from all tiers of government by revisiting the ‘Dig Once Policy’ to further safeguard critical telecom assets and minimize cable cuts and vandalism nationwide.
Urhoghide added that Edo State is working to cut red tape—fast-tracking approvals for RoW and fibre projects—to foster rapid telecom development locally.
During an earlier session at GITEX Nigeria, MTN Nigeria CEO Dr. Karl Toriola sounded another alarm: As artificial intelligence (AI) rollout accelerates in Nigeria, the nation faces a severe shortfall in data centre capacity—estimated at a 90 megawatt gap—which could constrain digital growth if not swiftly addressed.
