Telecom
Broadband Council Pushes for Smart States, 50% 3G-Coverage
Broadband Council has made case for the increased 3G coverage to 50 percent of the Nigerian population by 2015.
This was one of the outcomes of the council’s 4th meeting in Lagos recently.
The meeting coincided with the first year anniversary of the approval of the Broadband Plan by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
In reviewing progress against the broadband plan so far, Council highlighted that it had been slower than anticipated, though Broadband penetration has gone up from 6 to 6.8% since implementation commenced.
All members agreed that sustained efforts needed to be maintained to increase the penetration rate in accordance with the five year target of the Broadband Plan as full 3G rollout would lead to increased mobile broadband penetration for all.
To support its push for full 3G rollout across the nation, an Access Gap Analysis of the coverage of the country has been completed by the USPF.
The purpose of the Access Gap study by USPF is to ascertain/determine priority for unserved and underserved areas and direct appropriate investments to these areas. This will inform plans for addressing under-served and unserved areas across the country.
The USPF’s soon to be published Access Gap Analysis shows large population clusters of 500,000 and more still requiring coverage.
This significant work by the USPF has given real empirical data to the issue of which areas of the country have connectivity.
The members of the council commended the work of the USPF in this area. This work would feed into prioritised areas for USP funds.
The Council also extensively deliberated on progress made with the Smart States initiative and getting states to reduce or remove ROW charges and other related fees. Five states have so far indicated interest in being Smart States.
They are Gombe, Bayelsa, Ondo, Anambra and Katsina. Lagos and Cross Rivers state are already considered well on their way to being Smart City States. Abuja is also in a great position to be Smart
Mrs Omobola Johnson Chairman of the Council and Honourable Minister of the Ministry of Communication Technology,, said that the Smart states drive to engage governors and relevant authorities at the state and federal level to address the issue of multiple taxations will accelerate the roll out of critical infrastructure across Nigeria.
The Lagos state government had earlier signed an agreement with the Association of Licensed Telecoms Companies (ALTON) to reduce the cost of RoW from 3000 naira to 500 naira per meter, a significant reduction of 85%.
The aim of the Smart States initiative is to ensure that effective measures are adopted to remove arbitrary charges and eradicate multiple taxations across the nation.
Previous research by the Ministry revealed that ROW charges, levies and taxes contributed about 70% to the cost of rolling out infrastructure in several states.
Also, a collaborative agreement between the Ministries of Communication Technology (including the NCC) and Environment (which includes NESREA) has been gazetted and is now in place to help ease bottlenecks concerning base station deployment. An MOU that outlines the roles and responsibilities of each department with respect to base station deployment and approvals of Environmental Impact Assessments necessary for effective service delivery in the telecom sector is now operational.
In addition, the timeline for the processing of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) reports will no longer exceed 90 days, another obstacle often highlighted by Operators.
The push by the Council for the release of more spectrum by the NFMC and NCC is yielding positive results. The Nigerian Communications Commission successfully auctioned the 2.3GHz spectrum band to Bitflux Communications in February this year.
The auction is in line with the mandated timeline of the broadband plan. The release of complementary Infraco licenses will follow shortly. NFMC continues to work closely with the NBC and NCC with regards to digital dividends and the release of 2.5GHz and 2.6GHz planned for later this year.
Incumbent occupants of the spectrum have been engaged and a mode of transition is being worked out.
The Council also deliberated on the Cybercrime Bill and work done so far on TV White Space committee.
The Cyber Crime Bill passed through the First Reading in the National Assembly in the first quarter of 2014, and the Bill is awaiting Second Reading in both the Senate and House of Representatives.
The NFMC has approved the piloting of TV whitespace technology in Nigeria and the pilot will commence with 6 companies offering services in unserved and underserved areas. Pilots will be for one year under licensing from NCC.
Purpose of the pilot is to establish the TVWS solution as a viable rural access technology for the Nigerian context.
Recall that the Broadband Council had after its third meeting on the 17th of February launched an awareness campaign that will communicate the transformational benefits of broadband to all Nigerians to encourage its use and adoption and inform where broadband is also accessible in local communities.
The Campaign tagged ‘’Connected Nigeria, Connected Nigerians’’ is on-going and will raise awareness and disseminate information of the benefits of Broadband and how broadband is creating economic and social value for Nigerians.
The Council has also inaugurated a Media Advisory Council to help drive the broadband awareness campaign.
Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said that Nigeria’s internet usage reached a record 1.24 million terabytes in November 2025.
According to the latest data from the NCC, the figure rose modestly from 1.235 million terabytes in October, reflecting steady growth in digital activity across the country.
Broadband penetration in Nigeria crossed the halfway mark in November 2025, reaching 50.58 per cent, up from 45.61 per cent in January, the telecoms regulator reported.
The figure, however, falls short of the 70 per cent coverage target outlined in the National Broadband Plan 2020–2025, which expires this month.
The country had roughly 109 million broadband subscriptions by November. Growth has been uneven, hindered by infrastructure and regulatory constraints, including frequent fibre-optic vandalism that triggers 30 to 43 network cuts daily, high right-of-way fees, and declining subscriber numbers earlier in the year.
Expansion of mobile networks, particularly 3G and 4G services, alongside limited 5G rollouts in urban centres, affordable smartphones, and competitive data plans, has driven uptake.
Investments in the National Communications Backbone and private-sector initiatives have also improved access, especially in underserved areas.
While Nigeria is gradually improving digital inclusion, achieving the original broadband plan remains challenging due to high infrastructure costs, coverage limitations, and deployment hurdles.
The NCC maintains that continued investment in mobile networks and broadband infrastructure will sustain gradual growth in the sector.
Commenting on the development, some Nigerian analysts attributed the surge to the broader mobile and broadband adoption and the growing appetite for streaming, online learning and other digital services.
According to the analysts, the figures suggest that internet connectivity is no longer a luxury but a necessity for both business and leisure, underscoring the slow but steady expansion of Nigeria’s digital economy.
Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) has named the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) among the top three Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government with the Best Ranking in Website Performance for 2025.
L-R: Head Special Projects, Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Salamatu Andu; Executive Commissioner, Technical Services, Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), Engr. Abaraham Oshadame; Director General Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR), Head Customer Support Service, Galaxy Backbone, Rosemary Ehize; Secretary to the ES. Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Tahir Aminu at the BPSR award ceremony for top four MDAs in BPSR Website Performance and Ranking 2025 at the BPSR office on Tuesday, 23rd December, 2025.
This is coming barely three weeks after the telecom regulator was recognized as one of the top five best-performing Federal Government agencies for 2025 by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) – a testament to the Commission’s consistency in investment in technology for ensuring efficient service delivery.
In the BPSR 2024/2025 scorecard ranking of agencies’ websites, the NCC came second in the ranking, trailing behind Galaxy Backbone Limited, which came first while the Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC) clinched the third position, from a pool of 235 MDAs, whose website were evaluated.
BPSR deployed 14 evaluation criteria in include MDA’s website compliance with .gov.ng domain name, appearance and aesthetics (look and feel) of the website, content, relevance to MDAs mandate/government policy and the website’ structure.
Others include website’s responsiveness (device compatibility), security, load time, usability/ease of navigation, availability/uptime, functionality, interactivity, accessibility and capacity building.
The recognition was announced at the official release of Federal Government 2024/2025 Scorecard Ranking for MDAs’ Website held at the Federal Ministry of Finance Auditorium in Abuja on Monday (December 22, 2025) while the award presentation took place at BPSR’s Office on Tuesday (December 23, 2025).
The award, which is an important index metric of the National e-Government Masterplan for determining the Nigeria e-Government Status, was received by the Commission in recognition of its commitment to maintaining a world-class website that enhances service delivery to the citizens.
Receiving the award on behalf of the Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida, the NCC’s Executive Commissioner, Technical Services, Abraham Oshadami, appreciated the BPSR for the recognition, describing the award as “another encouragement for the Commission to be a better public service institution leveraging digital platforms such as our web presence to enhance public service delivery to our various stakeholders, thereby implementing the Federal Government’s Ease of Doing Business policy direction.”
While presenting the award to the NCC, alongside other two agencies, BPSR’s Director-General, Mr. Dasuki Arabi, commended the top three for their proactive decisions in maintaining world-class websites, which are compliant with the Federal Government’s policy direction in effective and efficient service delivery to the citizens.
According to the DG, the 2024/2025 MDA’s websites’ ranking represents a collective effort of federal public institutions in Nigeria to be transparent, accountable and open in governance, as well as a confirmation to align with global best practices in service delivery to the citizens.
Developed about six years ago, Arabi said as a result of the annual ranking, more public institutions have indicated readiness to embrace reforms, and align with the policy direction of the current administration’s Renewed Hope agenda on improve governance for effective service delivery, as introduced by His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“The ideals of harnessing and deploying technological tools for service delivery has become imperative following the COVID pandemic, and distortions of socio-economic system of nations, culminating in the evolution of competitiveness, cost effectiveness, and agile governance.
“As engine room of governance, it behoves on us in the public service to perform our statutory duties and we must put in place technological innovations and standardized websites to operate services as well as deliver service needs to citizens,” he said.
The Scorecard exercise, he said, is part of the BPSR reform broader function of conducting research on reform implementation efforts and presenting ‘best practice’ models to the entire Public Service, and to among others, improve access to government information, facilitate seamless financial transaction, eliminate corruption and cyber theft, as well as facilitate access to government services.
Speaking on the rigorous nature of the exercise that produced the top three winners, the DG said “in the past few weeks members of the Scorecard Jury drawn from inter-Ministerial Agencies, had worked tirelessly to mill websites of selected MDAs through a rigorous process of enduring criteria for the ranking and the outcome had also passed through a quality assurance mechanism to validate the outcome.”
Taiwo Oyedele, Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, has dismissed reports that bank accounts not linked to a Tax Identification Number (TIN) will be frozen or automatically debited from January 1, 2026.
Taiwo Oyedele
Oyedele described the claims as false and misleading, warning Nigerians against panic over misinformation surrounding recent tax and financial reforms.
In a post on his X handle Tuesday morning, he wrote: “Don’t let anyone manipulate you. Your bank account is safe. Misinformation makes you panic and fear a reform that is designed to help you.
“When they tell you that your account will be frozen or automatically debited from January 2026, ask them for the evidence in the new law. Be wise.”
He stressed that no provision in the new tax laws authorises the freezing of bank accounts, adding that the rumours are part of widespread misrepresentation of the reforms.
The committee chairman reiterated that the reforms are intended to simplify Nigeria’s tax system and ease the burden on ordinary citizens, not to impose punitive measures on bank customers.
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