Telecom
Over 19,000 Fibre Cuts Reported in 2025, NCC Calls for Infrastructure Protection
Dr. Aminu Maida, Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has called for urgent, inclusive action to bridge Nigeria’s digital divide, describing connectivity as a national economic and security imperative.
Tunji Jimoh, Zonal Controller of the NCC Lagos Office
Delivering the keynote address at the inaugural Rural Connectivity Summit held at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, Maida emphasized that “the accurate measure of connectivity is not in megabits per second, but in the economic value it creates or loses.”
The summit, themed “Rethinking Digital Connectivity to Unlock Rural Economic Potentials”, was organized by Business Metrics Limited.
Maida, represented by Mr. Tunji Jimoh, Controller of the NCC Lagos Office, spoke on the topic “Leaving Nobody Behind: Leveraging Regulatory Advantages to Bridge Nigeria’s Digital Divide.”
He noted that over 45 per cent of Nigeria’s population resides in rural areas, yet continues to face systemic exclusion from digital opportunities.
“A community without digital connectivity is functionally invisible, cut off from modern education, global markets, specialized healthcare, and opportunity,” Maida said. “This digital invisibility is an unacceptable situation that we must act decisively to end.”
Citing research, Maida said a 10 per cent increase in broadband penetration can drive approximately 1.38 per cent GDP growth in developing economies. As of August 2025, Nigeria’s broadband penetration stood at 48.81 per cent.
He also referenced Nigeria’s performance on the International Telecommunication Union’s ICT Development Index (IDI), where the country scored 52.9 in 2025, ranking 137th out of 164 economies — an improvement from 46.9 in 2024.
“Our IDI score reflects stronger performance in Meaningful Connectivity (68.7) than Universal Connectivity (37.1), highlighting gains in network coverage and affordability, but persistent gaps in Internet usage and household access,” he said.
Maida lamented the stark urban-rural divide, noting that while urban areas enjoy up to 57 per cent Internet access, rural communities lag at just 23 per cent. Cities like Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt account for 75 to 80 per cent of total data usage.
To address these disparities, Maida outlined several NCC and Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) initiatives, including the Rural Broadband Initiative (RUBI) and Accelerated Mobile Phone Expansion (AMPE), which subsidize the deployment of Base Transceiver Stations and fibre backbone infrastructure.
He highlighted the USPF’s impact in education, citing over 2,500 projects and 100,000 computers delivered to schools nationwide.
A notable example is the Emerging Technologies Centre at Ogun State Institute of Technology (OGITECH), where over 9,000 students now access high-end computing resources.
“These students are developing innovations like drones for local agriculture,” Maida said.
In healthcare, the USPF’s E-Health Project connects rural primary health centres with larger hospitals for remote consultations, while the E-Accessibility Project deploys assistive technologies for persons with disabilities.
Maida also announced the launch of the Nigeria Digital Connectivity Index (NDCI) on October 9, 2025, which will provide an annual public scorecard measuring each state’s digital readiness.
“This index will foster competition and accountability among states,” he said.
He further emphasized the role of Community Networks in empowering local connectivity solutions. The NCC has partnered with the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) under its LocNet Initiative to develop enabling frameworks, with a national strategy conference held in October 2024 and a policy workshop in June 2025.
“We are currently conducting a comprehensive study on Community Networks, with framework development scheduled for January 2026,” Maida revealed.
On infrastructure protection, Maida disclosed that the sector recorded 19,384 fibre cuts, 3,241 equipment thefts, and over 19,000 site access denials between January and August 2025.
He credited the Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII) Presidential Order, signed by President Bola Tinubu in June 2024, for empowering law enforcement to combat vandalism.
He also praised the Telecommunications Industry Working Group and the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) for dismantling major cartels.
Regarding Right of Way (RoW) charges, Maida said 11 states now offer zero fees, while 17 others have capped charges at the N145 per linear metre benchmark. He also promoted “dig-once” policies to reduce deployment costs.
Maida acknowledged partnerships with operators like MTN, Airtel, Glo, and T2, as well as international bodies such as GSMA and the World Bank.
He cited the Wholesale Fibre Study and the Ease of Doing Business Portal, launched alongside the NDCI, as key tools for streamlining deployments.
Finally, Maida introduced the General Authorisation Framework (GAF), drafted in July 2025, which provides flexible pathways for market entry through Proof of Concept, Regulatory Sandbox, and Interim Service Authorisation.
“By reducing entry barriers, the GAF fosters disruptive solutions tailored to rural needs, such as satellite connectivity and low-cost 5G towers,” he said.
The summit concluded with a renewed commitment from stakeholders to co-create inclusive connectivity solutions and unlock Nigeria’s rural economic potential.
Irvine Partners, the woman-led, African-born creative communications agency operating across Nigeria, has cemented its position as a disruptive force on the global stage following a landmark week of international industry recognition for its CEO and founder, Rachel Irvine.
Rachel-Irvine-CEO-Irvine-Partners
Irvine has been named to Campaign UK’s prestigious 40 over 40 list for 2026, while simultaneously earning a place on PRovoke Media’s Innovator 25 EMEA index – two of the communications industry’s most closely watched honours, secured in the same week. The achievement places her among the most influential and progressive communications leaders across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
For Nigeria – Africa’s largest economy and one of its most competitive and complex communications environments – the recognition speaks directly to something the local industry has long understood: that the strategic thinking, cultural intelligence and executional precision forged in African markets is not a regional advantage. It is a global one.
Irvine Partners brings this philosophy to some of the world’s most prominent digital and consumer brands in the Nigerian market, including TikTok, Spotify, Uber and Google – organisations that demand communications work of the highest international calibre, delivered with genuine local understanding.
An African agency rewriting the global narrative
Campaign UK’s 40 over 40 celebrates individual excellence, leadership and lasting impact within the British media and marketing landscape. PRovoke Media’s Innovator 25 spotlights those who are dismantling traditional PR structures, advancing data-led practice, and reshaping how the industry operates. To earn both in a single week is rare by any measure.
What underpins both honours is a story that begins not in London but in Africa – in the dynamic, high-stakes communications environments of markets like Nigeria, where agencies must be sharper, faster and more culturally precise than anywhere else in the world.
“These accolades are less about my own journey and far more about where Irvine Partners is going as a collective,” says Rachel Irvine. “For a long time, the global communications industry treated African agencies as local executors of global strategies. What we’ve proven over the past few years is that the technical craft, cultural capital, and data frameworks built within our agency are not just scalable for the continent; they are world-class.”
Built on the same ethos that works in Lagos
The recognition follows the agency’s strong performance at the IN2 SABRE Awards EMEA, where Irvine Partners took major wins for Unicorn School – its proprietary internal talent development programme – and for its advanced data analytics capability, alongside notable shortlists for global clients including Spotify and Uber.
Nigeria’s communications market is one of the most demanding in the world. Consumer audiences are sophisticated and discerning. The media environment is layered, fast-moving and deeply attuned to authenticity. Brands that succeed here do not do so through generic messaging – they do so through precision, cultural credibility and strategic consistency. These are precisely the competencies that Irvine Partners has built its international reputation on.
“The PR landscape has fundamentally shifted,” Irvine adds. “Clients no longer want siloed regional strategies; they want intelligent, culturally intuitive storytelling backed by bulletproof analytics that move the business needle. We built our foundations on that exact ethos in highly dynamic markets, and bringing that specific DNA to the UK and EMEA regions is why we are winning.”
The agency’s agile, borderless model – deliberately structured to move at the speed of modern brands rather than the pace of legacy networks- is one that Nigerian communications professionals will recognise as a natural evolution of how the best African agencies have always operated: lean, sharp and built for impact.
Underlying both honours is Irvine’s sustained commitment to talent development and cultural diversity across all of the agency’s wholly owned offices – a principle as central to its Lagos work as to any other market in its growing global footprint.
Mark Zuckerberg, Meta Chief Executive Officer, has announced a major leadership change at WhatsApp, confirming that Will Cathcart will step down as head of the messaging service after seven years in office.
Zuckerberg made the announcement in a post shared on Facebook on Monday, June 22, 2026, praising Cathcart’s contributions to the growth of the platform.
According to him, Cathcart played a key role in expanding WhatsApp’s global user base to over three billion people while promoting privacy-focused communication across its services.
“Will’s been one of Meta’s most important and effective leaders, helping to bring WhatsApp to over 3 billion people and championing privacy for our community,” Zuckerberg stated.
The Meta CEO also announced that Kunal Shal will take over leadership of WhatsApp.
He described Shal as a “builder” with strong international experience, adding that his leadership style aligns with Meta’s long-term vision for the messaging platform.
Meta said the transition is aimed at strengthening WhatsApp’s role in both personal and business communication globally, as the platform continues to expand its services across markets.
Industry observers say the leadership change marks a significant transition for WhatsApp, which has grown rapidly under Cathcart’s stewardship, particularly in areas of privacy, encryption, and enterprise messaging solutions.
However, Meta has not disclosed the exact timeline for the leadership handover or further structural changes within the messaging division.
The company reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining WhatsApp’s security standards and continued innovation under the new leadership.
MTN Nigeria has raised the bar for corporate disclosure in Africa after publishing its 2025 sustainability report in full compliance with International Financial Reporting Standards S1 and S2.
Dr. Karl Toriola, CEO of MTN Nigeria,
The report, independently assured by Ernst & Young, marks the telecom operator’s seventh consecutive annual sustainability publication and third year as an early adopter of the global framework ahead of its mandatory implementation.
Dr. Karl Toriola, CEO of MTN Nigeria, said, “strong governance and ethical conduct are foundational to our sustainability strategy. We reinforced compliance through our Conduct Passport Framework and robust internal controls.”
He added that “in May 2025, we became the first telecommunications company in Nigeria to publicly present a sustainability report on the Nigerian Exchange Group platform, an important milestone in our commitment to IFRS S1 and S2- aligned disclosure and accountability.”
The company also secured Carbon Disclosure Project ratings of ‘B-’ for climate change and ‘C’ for water security.
Under the IFRS S2 framework, the telecoms operator disclosed climate-related risks linked to flooding, heat stress, regulatory changes and possible future taxes or charges on carbon emissions, following a climate scenario analysis completed in 2024.
The report also showed that MTN Nigeria now uses a digital reporting format – XBRL. This makes its sustainability and governance data easier for investors and ESG rating agencies to access and analyse through automated systems.
The Company also carried out assessments to understand how sustainability issues affect both its business operations and society at large, while measuring its overall economic, environmental and social impact from 2021 to 2024.
In addition, over one-third of MTN Nigeria’s biggest suppliers (based on spending) have committed to supporting the company’s net-zero emissions goals, although these commitments have not yet gone through an independent audit or verification process.
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