Airtel Nigeria Expands Fibre by 25%, Adds 2,200 Sites to Meet Soaring Data Demand
Airtel Nigeria has announced a major expansion of its fibre and network infrastructure, committing to grow its fibre footprint by 25 percent while adding more than 2,200 new sites nationwide to keep pace with rising data consumption.
The telecom operator unveiled the investment update at its first media roundtable of 2026 in Lagos, where executives detailed upgrades implemented over the past two years and outlined a faster deployment schedule for the year ahead.
Chief Executive Officer Dinesh Balsingh said the company’s approach is built on scale, depth and resilience as Nigeria’s digital economy accelerates.
“Over the last two years, we have invested with discipline and clarity to strengthen our network nationwide,” Balsingh said. “Those investments are now translating into measurable improvements in performance, customer experience and reach, including in underserved communities. In 2026, we are accelerating these upgrades because Nigeria’s data appetite is growing, and leadership in this industry will belong to those who plan ahead.”
Since December 2023, Airtel has expanded its network footprint by 15.5 percent, adding 2,242 sites to reach nearly 16,711 locations across the country. The rollout is designed to improve coverage, increase capacity and build redundancy in both urban centres and rural areas.
Capacity improvements have gathered momentum. In 2025 alone, Airtel upgraded roughly 30 percent of its network, enhancing more than 5,000 sites. The company said 99 percent of its locations now provide high-speed 4G services, effectively making Airtel a nationwide 4G operator.
Chief Technology Officer Harmanpreet Singh Dhillon said additional spectrum and optimisation efforts are central to sustaining service quality.
“We have increased our 4G spectrum by 10MHz and we are actively optimising our holdings,” he said. “These actions allow us to support higher throughput, better speeds and more consistent service, especially in high-traffic areas.”
The company is also pushing ahead with 5G. Airtel more than doubled its active 5G sites in the last three months and plans to connect the top 20 cities to high-speed coverage, with a significant share of its urban network expected to be 5G-enabled within the next year.
Beyond mobile access, fibre remains a cornerstone of the strategy. After doubling capital expenditure last year, Airtel committed to a 25 percent fibre expansion, with intensive deployments underway within cities and along inter-state routes. The backbone is intended to support surging demand for video streaming, cloud applications and enterprise connectivity.
Airtel further disclosed that it will establish a second international internet breakout in southern Nigeria, reducing reliance on Lagos as the sole gateway. The new route, linked to the 2Africa submarine cable, will run from Kwa Ibo in Akwa Ibom State and is expected to enhance resilience and latency nationwide.
In parallel, the operator is integrating satellite connectivity through partnerships with OneWeb and Starlink. The recently announced Direct-to-Cell collaboration with Starlink aims to extend basic services to deep rural and hard-to-reach areas, while also supporting enterprise customers operating outside fibre coverage.
Supporting these networks is an expanding cloud and data architecture. Airtel operates a large private cloud environment equipped with GPU capacity for artificial intelligence applications such as fraud detection, automated network optimisation and customer analytics. A new hyperscaler-ready 38-megawatt data centre in Eko Atlantic is also in the pipeline.
Balsingh said the investments reflect Airtel’s long-term commitment to Nigeria.
“Quality of service today is about resilience, redundancy and intelligence,” he said. “From fibre to cloud to satellite-enabled connectivity, we are building a platform that allows Nigerian businesses to scale with confidence, regardless of location.”
Other executives present at the roundtable included Ogo Ofomata, director of Airtel Business; Ismail Adeshina, marketing director; Kemi Ariyo, IT director; and Femi Adeniran, director of corporate communications and CSR.
Leave A Comment