Airtel Accelerates 5G Expansion Across Nigeria’s Top 20 Cities

Airtel Nigeria has announced a major acceleration of its network and infrastructure upgrades, reinforcing its position as a leading force in the country’s telecommunications sector.

At its first media roundtable of 2026, the company outlined extensive investments made over the past two years, aimed at strengthening service quality, expanding coverage, and preparing for Nigeria’s rapidly growing digital economy.

The updates reflect Airtel’s long-term strategy to stay ahead of rising data demand and support businesses and consumers with faster, more reliable connectivity.

Strategic Focus on Scale and Resilience

Speaking at the event, Airtel Nigeria’s Chief Executive Officer, Dinesh Balsingh, said the company’s approach is built around deliberate expansion, operational depth, and network resilience.

He explained that disciplined investments over the past 24 months are now delivering measurable improvements in performance, reach, and customer experience, particularly in underserved and remote areas.

According to Balsingh, Airtel’s renewed push in 2026 is driven by Nigeria’s growing appetite for digital services and the need for operators to plan ahead in a competitive market.

Expansion of Network Infrastructure

Airtel’s quality of service strategy is centred on rapid network growth and modernisation.

Since December 2023, the company has increased its network sites by 15.5 percent, adding 2,242 new locations and bringing the total to nearly 16,711 nationwide.

Further deployments are planned in 2026 to enhance coverage and improve capacity across both urban and rural communities.

Nationwide 4G Upgrade and Capacity Improvements

In 2025, Airtel completed major capacity upgrades on about 30 percent of its network sites, covering more than 5,000 locations.

As a result, 99 percent of Airtel’s sites now support high-speed 4G broadband, positioning the company as a fully nationwide 4G operator.

These upgrades are being extended in 2026 to maintain performance as data usage continues to rise.

Strengthening Spectrum and Network Performance

Harmanpreet Singh Dhillon, Airtel Nigeria’s Chief Technology Officer, highlighted the importance of spectrum depth and optimisation.

He said the company has increased its 4G spectrum by 10 MHz and continues to refine its frequency holdings to support higher data throughput, improved speeds, and more consistent service in high-traffic areas.

Accelerated 5G Rollout in Major Cities

Airtel is also intensifying its 5G deployment across Nigeria.

Over the past three months, the company has more than doubled its active 5G sites. This expansion will connect the country’s top 20 cities to high-speed 5G networks.

In the coming year, a significant portion of Airtel’s infrastructure in these cities is expected to become 5G-enabled, supporting advanced digital services and enterprise solutions.

Satellite Connectivity and Direct-to-Cell Innovation

Beyond traditional infrastructure, Airtel is expanding its reach through satellite partnerships.

The company has signed agreements with OneWeb and Starlink to provide enterprise-grade connectivity in remote and hard-to-reach locations.

Recently, Airtel announced Nigeria’s first Direct-to-Cell partnership with Starlink. This initiative will allow users to remain connected while travelling through remote regions and enable rural communities to access digital and fintech services.

Expansion of Fibre Network and Internet Backbone

Airtel Nigeria continues to invest heavily in fibre infrastructure across the country.

Following its decision to double capital expenditure, the company committed to expanding its fibre footprint by 25 percent. Rollout activities are currently underway in multiple cities and states.

Plans are also in place to extend fibre links within major urban centres and across state boundaries to improve network resilience.

New Internet Breakout Point in Southern Nigeria

A major national milestone is approaching with Airtel’s plan to diversify Nigeria’s international internet access.

Currently, the country relies on a single submarine cable landing point in Lagos. Airtel has announced plans to establish a second internet breakout in southern Nigeria using the 2Africa submarine cable.

In partnership with 2Africa, the company will begin routing internet traffic through Kwa Ibo in Akwa Ibom State.

According to Balsingh, this development will provide an alternative route for data traffic, improve network reliability, and strengthen connectivity for both northern and southern regions.

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Investment in Cloud, AI, and Data Infrastructure

Supporting Airtel’s network expansion is a robust IT and cloud ecosystem.

The company operates a private enterprise cloud with thousands of virtual machines and large-scale storage and computing capacity.

Its infrastructure includes GPU clusters that power artificial intelligence applications such as fraud detection, automated network healing, and advanced customer analytics.

Airtel has also announced plans to launch a 38-megawatt, hyperscaler-ready data centre in Eko Atlantic. The facility is designed to support Nigeria’s next phase of digital growth and AI-driven services.

Nationwide Retail and Customer Access Network

From a customer access standpoint, Airtel maintains one of the largest retail networks in Nigeria.

Its products and services are available in more than 200,000 outlets nationwide. This network is supported by over 4,000 exclusive shops across all local government areas and 250 flagship stores.

This wide distribution footprint enables the company to reach customers in both major cities and rural communities.

Leadership Commitment and Long-Term Vision

Balsingh said Airtel’s approach to quality of service is focused on resilience, redundancy, and intelligent infrastructure.

He noted that the company’s integrated investments in fibre, cloud, satellite, and mobile networks are designed to help Nigerian businesses scale confidently, regardless of location.

He also reaffirmed Airtel’s long-term commitment to Nigeria, emphasising consistent investment, disciplined execution, and confidence in the country’s digital future.

Other members of Airtel Nigeria’s leadership team present at the roundtable included Ogo Ofomata, Director of Airtel Business; Ismail Adeshina, Director of Marketing; Kemi Ariyo, Director of Information Technology; and Femi Adeniran, Director of Corporate Communications and CSR.