Federal Government has warned telecommunications operators to improve service quality or face regulatory sanctions, stating that recent reforms have stabilized the sector and removed excuses for poor network performance.

Telcos

Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, issued the warning in a statement on Sunday, emphasizing that Nigeria’s connectivity gaps were largely structural, driven by years of underinvestment and constraints on operators.

The government has tackled these problems through long-term infrastructure planning and immediate sector-stabilization measures aimed at restoring sustainability and investor confidence.

These long-term reforms focus on expanding infrastructure through new fibre deployment and tower rollout initiatives designed to close critical gaps in the digital backbone.

Funding has been secured with support from the World Bank for Project BRIDGE, alongside additional investments in satellite capacity to boost nationwide coverage. These interventions are expected to transform connectivity over the next two to five years, enabling businesses and households to access reliable high-speed internet beyond unstable mobile connections.

“When we assumed office, it was clear that Nigeria’s connectivity challenges were structural, driven by years of underinvestment in infrastructure and constraints that limited the ability of operators to deliver quality service,” the Minister noted.

“We have addressed this on two fronts. First, the long-term structural solution. We have secured funding, led by the World Bank, and established the framework for a special purpose vehicle with Project BRIDGE, to deliver nationwide open access fibre infrastructure.

Deployment of fibre will commence, alongside new tower rollouts through NUCAP, before the end of the year even as we also expand our satellite capability.”

Regarding immediate interventions, the government has stabilized the sector through tariff adjustments, the designation of telecom infrastructure as critical national infrastructure, tax harmonization efforts, and broader macroeconomic reforms.

These changes have restored operator profitability and created a more transparent, market-driven environment, giving telcos the capacity to invest in network improvements.

“It is now the responsibility of telecom operators such as MTN Nigeria, Airtel Nigeria, Globacom, and 9mobile to take all necessary steps to resolve network challenges and deliver the level of service Nigerians expect,” the minister insisted.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has been fully empowered to monitor performance, enforce standards, and ensure compliance, with sanctions expected for defaulting operators.

Dr. Obioha Oti, National President of the Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria (AMMBAN), has described agency banking as Nigeria’s most critical last-mile channel for achieving meaningful financial inclusion, stressing that millions of Nigerians, particularly in rural and underserved communities, remain financially excluded despite notable progress in the sector.

PAFON 3.0

Speaking at the third edition of the Payments Forum Nigeria (PAFON 3.0), themed “Fair Digital Payments as a Catalyst for Deepening Financial Inclusion in Nigeria,” Oti, represented by Alhaji Yusuf Adeyemo, vice president of the Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria (AMMBAN), said agency banking has become Nigeria’s most practical and scalable solution for bridging the persistent financial access gap caused by poor infrastructure, low financial literacy, trust deficits, and high service delivery costs.

According to him, without effective last-mile financial access, Nigeria’s financial inclusion ambitions may remain unattainable.

Oti noted that through extensive agent networks, Nigerians now enjoy convenient access to critical financial services including cash deposits, withdrawals, transfers, bill payments, account opening, and other essential banking products, adding that beyond transactional services, agency banking offers trust, human interaction, and proximity-factors that purely digital channels cannot fully replicate.

“Agency banking has emerged as the most practical, scalable, and human-centred solution,” he stated, adding that agents serve as trusted financial intermediaries within local communities.

Highlighting AMMBAN’s contributions, Oti said the association has played a central role in strengthening Nigeria’s financial inclusion ecosystem through policy advocacy, professional training, rural agent expansion, fraud awareness campaigns, consumer protection initiatives, and strategic collaborations involving banks, fintechs, telecom operators, and mobile money providers.

He further noted that the agency banking sector has created millions of jobs and unlocked significant economic opportunities nationwide.

Oti acknowledged the contributions of major ecosystem drivers, including the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which he said continues to provide regulatory support through financial inclusion frameworks, consumer protection policies, and interoperability initiatives.

He also credited the Shared Agent Network Expansion Facilities (SANEF) for accelerating agent expansion across the country, while Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA) was recognized for its support through research, innovation funding, and data-driven insights.

Despite these achievements, Oti warned that the sector continues to grapple with significant obstacles such as liquidity shortages, network instability, fraud risks, poor agent profitability, infrastructure deficits, and overlapping regulations.

He stressed that these challenges must be urgently addressed to sustain growth and deepen inclusion. “For inclusion to truly deepen, digital payments must be affordable, reliable, transparent, and accessible to all Nigerians,” he said, insisting that fairness in digital payments is essential to closing the financial inclusion gap.

He warned that unfair pricing structures, unstable systems, and exclusionary payment models could further marginalize vulnerable populations.

Looking ahead, Oti urged stakeholders across the financial ecosystem to prioritize stronger collaboration, improved agent profitability, infrastructure development, enhanced financial literacy, increased financing access for agents, and supportive regulatory frameworks.

He projected that Nigeria’s financial inclusion future will be “phygital,” combining physical agent networks with digital platforms to create seamless financial access.

According to him, agents are rapidly evolving beyond transaction points into community-based financial service hubs capable of driving grassroots economic development. “Agency banking is no longer just a distribution channel; it is the backbone of financial inclusion in Nigeria,” Oti declared.

He reaffirmed AMMBAN’s commitment to working with regulators, financial institutions, and technology providers to strengthen the ecosystem, empower underserved populations, and build a more inclusive national financial system.

Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) has warned that weak penalties under Nigeria’s Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII) policy are undermining efforts to protect telecoms assets.

Tony Emoekpere, president, ATCON,  made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos while calling for urgent legal reforms to strengthen enforcement.

Emoekpere said that although offenders are being apprehended and prosecuted, the current framework was failing to serve as a deterrent.

NAN reports that Nigeria’s Designation and Protection of Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII) Order 2024, signed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, provides the country’s main legal framework for safeguarding critical Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure against vandalism, sabotage and theft.

The Order, anchored on the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act 2015, classifies assets such as telecom towers, fibre-optic cables and data centres as critical national infrastructure requiring enhanced protection.

“People are being caught, but the offences are still treated as petty crimes.

“That limits the impact. CNII needs stronger legal backing such as an Act or executive order to give it more teeth,” the ATCON president said.

He said that the group was actively supporting the implementation of the CNII policy in collaboration with security agencies, stressing that telecom infrastructure remained critical to national security and economic growth.

The ATCON president also reaffirmed support for the Federal Government’s “Project Bridge,” aimed at expanding connectivity across the country, but identified right-of-way approvals across states as a major bottleneck.

According to him, because telcos have to engage multiple states, it is slowing things down but efforts are ongoing to address it.

On service quality, he said operators are struggling to keep pace with rising subscriber numbers and increasing data demand, despite recent tariff adjustments.

“The challenge is not that nothing is being done—investments are ongoing. But demand is growing even faster, and operators are constantly trying to catch up,” he said.

Emoekpere added that subscriber migration between networks and shifting usage patterns are placing additional pressure on certain operators, contributing to service fluctuations.

He, however, assured customers that efforts are ongoing to improve network performance.

“We value our subscribers, and everything is being done not just to maintain, but to improve service delivery,” he said.

The telecommunications sector has consistently identified infrastructure vandalism as a major challenge affecting service delivery and operational costs.

Industry stakeholders say the CNII Order is expected to strengthen the protection of telecom assets and improve quality of service for consumers, following years of rising attacks on infrastructure across the country.

Data from operators show that fibre-optic cable cuts remain one of the biggest threats to telecom operations.

However, in spite of the Order, Nigeria recorded 1,883 fibre cuts in the first quarter of 2026, while between January and August 2025, about 19,384 incidents were reported nationwide, averaging more than 2,400 monthly cases.

MTN Nigeria alone reported 9,218 fibre cuts in 2025, compared with 9,000 in 2024 and 6,000 in 2023, highlighting the increasing scale of the problem.

The sector has also faced widespread theft of generators, batteries and other power assets used to keep telecoms sites operational.

In 2025, criminals reportedly stole 656 critical power assets, including 152 generators and 504 batteries, while telecom operators lost an estimated ₦27 billion nationwide within a 12-month period due to infrastructure damage.

Industry reports further indicated that 577 network outages recorded in the first quarter of 2026 were directly linked to vandalism of telecoms infrastructure.

(NAN)