Telecom
Inside Nigeria’s Telecom Exploitation Crisis Draining Household Budgets
By Blaise Udunze
For about a year now, millions of Nigerians relying on the internet to make a living have been groaning over the manipulation of airtime and data consumption that has turned into a relentless drain on household budgets. Painfully, individuals and businesses buying airtime or data increasingly feel less like paying for a service and more like entering a wager whose odds are permanently stacked against the consumer. Around the nooks and crannies of the country, across cities and rural communities alike, subscribers tell the same weary story of data that evaporates mysteriously, airtime consumed faster than reason allows, and customer care responses that sound rehearsed rather than responsive.
Inside Nigeria’s Telecom Exploitation Crisis Draining Household Budgets
The majority will agree that this collective frustration is not a coincidence, nor is it merely the product of careless smartphone use, because others might argue that there are several technical factors inducing rapid mobile data usage. Leave it or take it, it is the outcome of a broken ecosystem where multinational telecom companies wield immense power in an environment marked by weak institutional checks, limited transparency, and a population stretched thin by economic hardship.
The recent 50 per cent upward adjustment of telecom tariffs, later revised in policy conversations to 35 per cent, has intensified this tension, though it is not justifiable as exploitation. For millions of Nigerians already battling inflation, currency volatility, and shrinking purchasing power, the hike landed not as an economic necessity but as an additional burden. When communication costs begin to claim up to 15 per cent or, in some cases, nearly 30 percent of the national minimum wage, something fundamental has gone wrong. Access to communication is no longer a luxury; it is the infrastructure of modern survival. Yet the price Nigerians are now paying for this access is becoming socially and economically unsustainable.
A published report showed that as of January 2025, statistics from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) disclosed that there were 141 million Internet users via the narrowband (GSM), while broadband penetration stood at 45 per cent. Data consumption has increased to 1,000,930.6 terabytes.
A review of the multinational telecom companies indicated that the new tariff for MTN’s revised data prices showed the 1.8GB monthly plan now goes for N1,500, against the previous 1.5GB plan priced at N1,000. The 20GB plan has been adjusted to N7,500, up from N5,500, while the 15GB plan now costs N6,500, rising from N4,500.
Under this new pricing regime, the same would be said of Airtel as it has replaced its cheapest monthly data plan of 1.2GB plan for N1,000 with 2GB plan for N1,500. For 3GB for N2, 000 (from 1.5GB at N1, 200), 4GB for N2, 500, formerly 3GB at N1, 500, and 8GB for N3, 000 (formerly 4.5GB at N2, 000). Other adjustments include 10GB for N4, 000 (formerly 6GB at N2, 500), 13GB for N5, 000 (from 10GB at N3, 000), 18GB for N6, 000 (formerly 15GB at N4, 000) and 25GB for N8, 000 as this replaces 18GB at N5, 000.
Further, the 75GB monthly bundle, which costs N16, 000 has been renamed as plan, costing N20, 000; 100GB for two months, costing N20, 000 have been upgraded to 150GB to cost N40, 000, while 400GB for three months, which cost N50,000 is now upgraded to 480GB to cost N120,000.
The bubble burst was further complicated tariff increase, which is the resurgence of widespread complaints about rapid data depletion. The issue is that businesses, students, families, and professionals are now raising alarms that data bundles, which previously lasted weeks, now disappear in days or even hours, which is questionable. Another critical area affected is small and medium-sized enterprises that rely on cloud services, digital marketing, logistics platforms, and online payments are finding their operating costs spiraling without any justification. For many, the crux of the matter is that profitability is being quietly eroded, not by poor business decisions, but by the rising cost and unpredictability of connectivity.
The telecom operators, backed by the regulator, have responded with familiar explanations that have always favoured their unscrupulous and illicit activities, with the explanation that data, they say, depletes faster because of background applications, automatic updates, high-definition streaming, malware, faster networks, and users’ failure to manage device settings. Technically, these explanations are not false because modern smartphones are indeed data-hungry, and digital behaviour has evolved. But this defence, repeated endlessly, misses the deeper issue, as the fact is that the problem Nigerians are confronting is not simply that data is consumed; it is that the system governing how data is measured, billed, and explained is not transparent, hard to understand, unaccountable, and tilted entirely in favour of the service providers.
In Nigeria’s telecom market, operators are both the umpires and the players. They measure usage, bill customers, interpret anomalies, and adjudicate complaints, which does not create ground for fair play. Subscribers, on the other hand, are expected to accept consumption figures hook, line, and sinker, which they cannot independently verify. An unacceptable fact is that there are no universally accessible, third-party audited data meters that allow users to confirm what they have truly consumed in real time. Customers and service providers do not have equal access to information; this asymmetry creates fertile ground for silent overbilling, whether intentional or structural, and it erodes trust in a sector that should be built on transparency not obscurity.
One critical aspect that must be addressed squarely is that the regulatory weakness compounds the problem. While the Nigerian Communications Commission possesses statutory authority, enforcement has often appeared slow, reactive, and insufficiently punitive. Penalties imposed on multinational firms with billion-dollar balance sheets rarely feel consequential. Investigations drag on, public disclosures are limited, and even when infractions are established, consumers seldom receive refunds. In such an environment, corporate restraint becomes optional. Where regulators lack teeth, corporations inevitably test boundaries.
The market structure itself offers little relief as the market setup does not protect consumers. Nigeria’s telecom sector is effectively oligopolistic, dominated by a few large powerful players with similar pricing models and limited incentive to compete on fairness. Tariff structures are deliberately complicated and complex, with multiple conditions and layered with bonuses, rollover conditions, expiry clauses, and promotional data that behaves differently from paid data. For the average subscriber, understanding these distinctions is exhausting. Complexity becomes a strategy, not an accident, reducing accountability while increasing revenue certainty for operators.
Though economic pressure on the telecom companies is real, and it must be acknowledged, knowing fully well that exchange rate volatility, energy costs, vandalism, and inflation have hurt profitability. Airtel’s revenue decline and MTN’s reported losses underscore the financial strain facing operators in Nigeria’s macroeconomic climate. It must be understood that corporate hardship does not justify consumer exploitation. The risk arises because multinational firms are subjected to pressure to meet global revenue targets and repatriate profits, adopt aggressive monetisation strategies in markets where regulation is weak and consumer resistance is fragmented.
From experiences thus far, the human cost of this imbalance is becoming impossible to ignore. From students like Abiodun Yusuf, who spends most of his allowance on data that barely supports his academic needs, and also to small business owners like Cynthia Jude, whose online shop struggles to stay viable, the stories repeat themselves with unsettling consistency and outcomes. Families ration children’s screen time not out of discipline, but out of financial desperation. The adverse part that has continued is the widening of an already dangerous digital divide, as rural communities withdraw from digital platforms altogether because of exploitation.
Perhaps most telling is how quickly exploitation has been normalized in Nigeria. Many Nigerians now shrug and say, “That’s how it is.” This resignation is the greatest victory for an unfair system and when people stop believing that fairness is possible, for this reason, exploitation becomes invisible, and abuse thrives without resistance.
Consumer advocacy groups like NATCOMS have begun to signal a shift in posture, including the possibility of court action. Labour unions have threatened boycotts. Civil society organisations warn of social and economic repercussions. These responses indicate that public patience is wearing thin. If left unaddressed, subscription apathy, however gradual, could ultimately undermine the very growth the telecom sector seeks to protect.
For a better understanding of what Nigeria faces is not merely a dispute over megabytes and tariffs, for clarity, it is a governance challenge that cuts across corporate ethics, regulatory independence, consumer empowerment and economic justice. A digital economy cannot thrive on distrust. Transparency and easily understandable data billing must become mandatory, not an aspirational goodwill promise. Independent audits should be public, regular, and credible. Complaint resolution mechanisms must be simplified, fast, and binding. Regulators must act not as mediators between equals, but as defenders of the public interest in an asymmetrical power relationship.
Equally important is consumer education, but awareness campaigns alone cannot substitute for structural reform. Digital literacy must go hand in hand with corporate accountability because the better it is understood that teaching users how to conserve data does not absolve operators from the responsibility to bill fairly and transparently.
At its core, the telecom debate reflects a large Nigerian dilemma, if not a broader problem in Nigeria, as corporate power has grown faster than institutional strength. Until regulators are truly independent and totally free from corporate and political influence, transparency is enforced by law, and consumers are recognized and treated not as passive revenue streams but as stakeholders with rights, exploitation will remain systemic rather than accidental or a series of isolated mistakes.
Communication is the bloodstream of modern society. When access to it becomes exploitative, the cost is paid not only in naira but in opportunity, dignity, and trust. Nigeria must decide whether its digital future will be built on fairness that respects consumers or allow it to rest on fatigue, frustration, and exploitation of users. The choice Nigeria makes will make more impact and the answer will shape not just the telecom sector, but the credibility of governance in an increasingly connected nation.
Blaise, a journalist and PR professional, writes from Lagos and can be reached via: [email protected]
The MTN Foundation has disclosed that it has committed more than N32 billion to social intervention programmes across Nigeria.
It said over 32 million people benefited from the scheme since its establishment in 2004.
The interventions, it noted, have reached thousands of communities nationwide through initiatives focused on education, healthcare, youth development and economic empowerment.
Speaking at the Anti-Substance Abuse Programme (ASAP) stakeholders’ conference in Ilorin, Joseph Akpata, Kwara State Manager, Development Portfolio, said the organisation has sustained its commitment to improving lives through impactful and measurable investments.
According to him, the foundation was created as the corporate social investment vehicle of MTN Nigeria and has continued to implement programmes designed to address critical social and developmental challenges.
“Since we started in 2004, we have invested over N32 billion in impactful projects across the country, and we have been keeping our records,” Akpata said.
He stated that the foundation’s interventions have so far impacted more than 32 million people in over 30,000 communities and scores of local government areas across the federation.
Akpata noted that the fight against substance abuse among young people remains a major priority for the organisation, prompting the launch of the Anti-Substance Abuse Programme in 2019.
He explained that the initiative was designed to reduce the number of first-time drug users through sustained advocacy, awareness campaigns and educational interventions targeted at young Nigerians.
“Our goal for the Anti-Substance Abuse Programme is to contribute to reducing the number of first-time users of drugs and other substances through advocacy, education and empowerment programmes,” he said.
The MTN Foundation official revealed that the programme has already reached more than 50,400 students across Nigeria, while over 1,500 teachers have received specialised training to support the campaign.
Mrs Mosun Belo-Olusoga, chairperson of the MTN Foundation, said the organisation remains committed to safeguarding the future of young Nigerians by equipping them with the knowledge and support needed to make informed choices.
Represented by Valentina Obayemi, she said the foundation’s belief in the potential of Nigeria’s youth inspired the launch of the anti-substance abuse initiative and continues to shape its interventions.
“This year, we are taking our message directly to 50 public secondary schools across 10 states and the Federal Capital Territory, reaching more than 20,000 students at a critical stage in their lives where the right information can shape their future,” she said.
Belo-Olusoga added that the foundation plans to train 250 additional teachers to identify, support and guide students participating in drug education and quiz competition programmes.
She said the intervention is also being extended beyond secondary schools through increased engagement with tertiary institutions and grassroots advocacy platforms.
According to her, the foundation is strengthening its partnership with the National Youth Service Corps to widen awareness campaigns while continuing support for the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency’s 24-hour toll-free psychosocial support helpline.
She noted that the collaboration is aimed at ensuring individuals battling substance abuse can access professional assistance and counselling whenever needed.
Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has commenced a comprehensive review of Mobile Termination Rates (MTR) eight years after the current rates were introduced, citing changing economic realities, technological advancements and shifts in telecommunications traffic patterns.
Mobile Termination Rates are regulated fees paid by one operator to another to complete calls across networks.
They influence competition, investment, and retail pricing.
The exercise, kicked off in Lagos at a mobile termination rate stakeholder forum on Tuesday, brought regulators, operators and industry participants into a structured process to reassess wholesale pricing rules that govern payments between networks for completing voice calls.
Speaking at a stakeholders’ engagement in Lagos, Mrs Omotayo Mohammed, head of Competition and Tariff at the NCC, said the review had become necessary because the existing rates no longer reflect prevailing operational and economic conditions in the telecommunications sector.
According to her, the current MTR stands at N3.90 per minute for generic operators and N4.70 per minute for new entrants, rates that have remained unchanged since 2018.
Mohammed noted that the telecommunications landscape has undergone significant changes over the years, driven by naira depreciation, rising inflation, escalating energy costs and evolving consumer behaviour.
“The foundation of wholesale interconnection affects every stakeholder in this room. Misaligned termination rates can enable dominant operators to foreclose smaller competitors, deter infrastructure investment and ultimately burden consumers through inflated retail prices,” she said.
She explained that the deployment of 5G networks, artificial intelligence (AI)-driven services and Internet of Things (IoT) applications has altered network usage patterns beyond what was envisaged in the 2018 cost model.
Mohammed further observed that over-the-top (OTT) platforms such as WhatsApp and Telegram now account for a significant share of voice and messaging traffic, reducing dependence on traditional interconnection services.
To drive the review process, the NCC has engaged KPMG as consultant for the study and stakeholder engagement exercise, which is expected to last four months.
The exercise will also examine issues relating to Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) services and application-to-person (A2P) short message service (SMS), both of which have become increasingly critical to Nigeria’s digital economy.
Mohammed stated that the review is being conducted in line with Sections 4, 96, 97 and 108 of the Nigerian Communications Act 2003, which empower the commission to promote investment, protect consumers and ensure fair competition.
She said the study would establish a cost-reflective MTR framework across different technology generations, operator categories and clearing house arrangements.
The review will also cover international termination rates (ITR) to tackle grey-route traffic concerns, develop a pricing framework for mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) and assess the current asymmetric rate structure between established operators and new entrants.
“The consultancy adopts an evidence-based and consultative approach. Stakeholders will have opportunities to submit their views and validate assumptions before any determination is made,” Mohammed assured.
She added that the review is expected to enhance retail affordability, improve access to digital financial services and enable operators to recover costs in line with prevailing capital and operational expenditure realities.
According to her, transparent and cost-reflective rates will encourage infrastructure investment and boost investor confidence in Nigeria’s digital economy.
Mohammed also assured stakeholders that the NCC would make its methodology, key assumptions and cost model parameters available throughout the process to ensure transparency and accountability.
In her remarks, Mrs Nnenna Ukoha, director of Public Affairs at the NCC, noted that mobile termination rates remain central to pricing structures, competition, service quality and overall consumer experience.
“We are particularly encouraged by the rapt attention, intellectual rigour and keen interest demonstrated by participants throughout today’s session.
“This active engagement reflects not only the relevance of the issues discussed but also a shared commitment to the sustainable growth and development of Nigeria’s telecommunications sector,” Ukoha said.
She stressed that discussions at the forum highlighted both the challenges and opportunities associated with the MTR determination process and underscored the need for sustained stakeholder engagement.
Ukoha reiterated that the consultation window remains open and encouraged industry stakeholders to submit additional inputs, data and perspectives to support a balanced, forward-looking and sustainable outcome for the sector.
She reaffirmed the NCC’s commitment to collaboration and inclusive regulation aimed at building a resilient, competitive and future-ready telecommunications industry.
Telecom
Airtel Africa Foundation Completes Year One Scholarship Disbursement for 100 Tech Scholars in Nigeria
The Airtel Africa Foundation, through Airtel Nigeria, has completed the disbursement of first year funding to the first cohort of 100 beneficiaries under its flagship Airtel Africa Tech Fellowship Programme.
The initiative, which was launched to support high-performing but financially disadvantaged 100-level students studying technology-related courses in public universities, covers tuition, accommodation, stipends, and other essential materials such as laptop computers.
Each of the beneficiaries received an average of ₦500,000, making a total of ₦50 million disbursed as of May 29, 2026. Funding will continue, the Foundation has said, through the duration of the students’ four-to-five-year academic programmes.
The 100 recipients, referred to as Airtel fellows, were selected through an independent process from accredited public universities across Nigeria and are enrolled in courses including Computer Science, Information Technology, Data Science, Software Engineering, Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence, among others.
Participating institutions in the first batch of the scholarship scheme are the University of Lagos (UNILAG), the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), the University of Benin (UNIBEN), Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) and Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED).
Commenting on the milestone, Chairman of Airtel Africa Foundation, Dr. Segun Ogunsanya, said, “We are not just funding education; we are building a pipeline of skilled innovators who will contribute meaningfully to Africa’s digital economy. The transparency of this process and the full delivery of our commitment to these 100 scholars are matters of great pride for the Foundation.”
Also speaking on the progress, the Chief Executive Officer of Airtel Nigeria, Dinesh Balsingh, noted that the initiative reflects Airtel’s long-standing commitment to empowering the youth through education and digital inclusion.
“At Airtel Nigeria, we believe that the future of our country lies in the hands of our youth. This ₦50 million disbursement is proof that when we say we are committed to empowering young Nigerians, we mean it fully and transparently. I congratulate every scholar and encourage you to make the most of this opportunity. Your success is our success,” he said.
The Airtel Fellowship Tech Fellowship forms part of the Foundation’s efforts to equip African youth with advanced digital and technical skills, within its broader F.E.E.D agenda which focuses on Financial Inclusion, Education, Environmental protection and Digital Inclusion.
Beyond financial support, the initiative is designed to equip beneficiaries with the skills, mentorship, and exposure required to thrive in an increasingly digital world.
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