Telecom
How Unstructured Data Can Help Companies Thrive in the AI Era
By Linda Saunders, Director Solutions Engineering Africa
Every organisation is racing to unlock the power of AI to improve its sales and service experiences. But great AI requires data.
Linda Saunders
Traditionally, companies have handled data that is found in structured formats, with rows and columns, including customer engagement data gathered through CRM applications. Every business also has a huge amount of information trapped in “unstructured” data, in formats such as documents, images, audio and video recordings. This unstructured data could be highly valuable, providing businesses with AI insights that are more accurate and comprehensive because they are grounded in customer information.
Many organisations want a holistic customer view, but have lacked the technical ability to see, access, integrate, and make use of their unstructured data in any trusted way. With the power of large language models (LLMs) and generative AI, they can now do just that.
To win in the AI era, successful organisations will need to build integrated, federated, intelligent, and actionable solutions across every customer touchpoint while also reducing complexity.
This starts with the capability to effectively tap into unstructured content, gather knowledge, index the data efficiently, and pull insights from every department.
Helping AI to better know and serve customers
When a customer needs help with a recent purchase, typically they start the conversation with the company’s chatbot. For the experience to be both relevant and positive, the entire exchange needs to be grounded in that customer’s data, such as their recent product purchase, warranty information, and any past conversations they’ve had. The chatbot should also be tapping into company data, such as the latest learnings from other customers who have bought similar products and internal knowledge base articles.
Some of this information might reside in transactional databases — structured information — while the rest might be in unstructured files, such as warranty contracts or knowledge base articles. Both types of data need to be accessed, and the right data needs to be utilised. If not, the exchange with the chatbot will be at best frustrating and at worst inaccurate.
Obtaining the best and most accurate AI responses requires augmenting LLMs with proprietary, real-time, structured and unstructured data from within a company’s own applications, warehouses, and data lakes.
An effective way of making those models more accurate is with an AI framework called Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG). RAG typically enables companies to use their structured and unstructured proprietary data to make generative AI more contextual, timely, trusted, and relevant.
Ensuring relevancy, whatever the scenario
Combining all your customer data, structured and unstructured, into a combined 360-degree view will ensure customers have the most relevant information for any enterprise scenario.
Financial institutions, for example, can use it to provide real-time information on market or financial data to their employees, who can take that information and blend it with a customer’s own unique banking needs to give them actionable advice based on their situation.
Many companies are exploring the use of RAG technology to improve internal processes and provide accurate and up-to-date information to advisors and other employees. Offering contextual assistance, ensuring personalised support, and continuously learning will improve efficiency decision-making across their organisation.
For organisations preparing their data for AI, first, they have to know where all of their data is and understand its quality – and whether it is good enough for their generative AI models. Second, they have to ensure their data is fresh, relevant, and retrievable, so they can combine structured and unstructured data for the best outputs. And thirdly, they have to activate that data across their applications and build the right pipelines so RAG can pull that data when prompted and provide the answers they need.
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has announced the formation of Airbel Ventures, a new humanitarian impact investing fund aimed at accelerating the introduction and scaling of breakthrough technologies in crisis-affected communities.
The fund will invest in companies whose ideas have the potential to change humanitarian response, including digital infrastructure for frontline health systems and climate-resilient agriculture.
The launch of Airbel Ventures follows a period of rapid innovation at the IRC, despite the humanitarian sector facing record funding cuts.
In the past year, the IRC’s Airbel Impact Lab has advanced more than twenty Artificial Intelligence (AI) and technology initiatives—from anticipatory action tools powered by climate and vulnerability data, to frontline service delivery using safe, orchestrated AI systems, to breakthrough diagnostic tools for emerging diseases.
Airbel Ventures’ first impact investment is in Signalytic, a company delivering solar-powered computing devices that ensure reliable electricity and connectivity for remote health facilities.
Following the investment, the IRC will pilot Signalytic’s technology with its Nigeria Health team, demonstrating the viability of next-generation digital infrastructure in humanitarian settings.
“We know breakthrough solutions already exist—what’s missing is the path to scale in humanitarian contexts,” said Dr. Jeannie Annan, Senior Vice President for Research & Innovation at the IRC and head of the Airbel Impact Lab.
MTN Nigeria, the country’s largest telecommunications operator, recorded a historic surge in network disruptions in 2025, suffering 9,218 fibre cuts as of December 31, alongside 211 base station sites affected by theft and vandalism, incidents that disrupted mobile and data services relied upon daily by millions of Nigerians.
The data was revealed by Dr Karl Toriola, chief executive officer/managing director, MTN Nigeria via a social media post titled ‘MTN Nigeria 2025 Wrapped’.
The scale of the damage highlights the growing vulnerability of Nigeria’s telecommunications infrastructure, which has come under increasing pressure from road construction activities, cable theft and deliberate acts of vandalism.
MTN said 5,478 fibre cuts occurred within just the first seven months of 2025, with 760 incidents recorded in July alone, underscoring the intensity of the challenge.
Some of the incidents had wide-ranging consequences, knocking out connectivity across multiple states simultaneously and affecting voice calls, data services, digital payments and enterprise operations.
The company described the situation as a national infrastructure problem, rather than an isolated corporate issue, given the economy’s deep dependence on mobile networks.
“These gaps were shaped by real operational challenges such as fibre cuts, theft, and vandalism. Their impact is felt directly by customers and reflected in what they tell us,” Toriola,
The disruptions were reflected in customer feedback volumes, as MTN handled an unprecedented number of complaints during the year. The operator said it resolved 1,624,263 customer complaints in 2025, spanning call centres, social media platforms, emails and physical service centres nationwide.
Despite the setbacks, MTN pointed to signs of operational resilience. The company retained its ranking as Nigeria’s best network by Ookla, returned to profitability after a challenging period, declared an interim dividend, and expanded its subscriber base to over 85 million users by September 2025.
The figures show that while Nigeria’s telecom operators continue to invest heavily in network expansion and customer service, infrastructure sabotage remains a major drag on service quality and operating costs.
MTN acknowledged that performance improvements remain a work in progress. “We are not where we want to be yet. We see you. We hear you. We exist because of you. And we will get better,” Toriola said.
As the company enters its 25th year of operations in Nigeria, Toriola said MTN is doubling down on customer-centricity, treating every piece of feedback as a guide for improvement, while also stepping up engagement with government agencies.
The CEO renewed calls for stronger regulatory and legal protections for telecommunications infrastructure, urging policymakers to classify fibre cables, base stations and other critical assets as national infrastructure and criminalise vandalism to deter repeat attacks.
Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has granted operating licences to six new Internet Service Providers (ISPs), effective January 1, 2026, raising the total number of authorised ISPs in the country to 231 from 225 recorded in December 2025.
NCC
The newly licensed firms are Intellvision Technologies Limited, Granet Technologies Limited, Fiber Sonic Limited, Dasol Solution Services Ltd, Boost ISP Limited, and Amazon Kuiper Nigeria Limited.
Five of these companies are headquartered in Lagos, while Granet Technologies Limited operates from Owerri in Imo State, highlighting the persistent concentration of broadband infrastructure in major commercial hubs like Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt.
This development intensifies competition in Nigeria’s broadband market, which faces pressure from dominant mobile network operators such as MTN and Airtel, alongside rapid expansion by satellite providers like Starlink.
Traditional ISPs continue to grapple with shrinking customer bases, aggressive data pricing from telcos, and satellite disruptions, even as NCC data from Q2 2025 showed Spectranet, Starlink, and FibreOne controlling about 65 per cent of the 313,713 active ISP subscribers.
The inclusion of Amazon Kuiper Nigeria Limited marks a significant entry of global satellite broadband competition, building on Nigeria’s recent approvals for other low Earth orbit providers to enhance connectivity in underserved areas.
Industry analysts view the licences as a strategic push to improve internet quality amid rising demand for digital services, though geographic clustering underscores ongoing infrastructure challenges outside urban centres.
NCC’s move aligns with broader efforts to foster a competitive telecoms sector critical to Nigeria’s digital economy ambitions.
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