Nigeria’s telecom sector is experiencing its most dramatic changes in decades. A recently released report, titled Policy Impact Report 2025, has outlined how regulation by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) is powering the country’s digital future.
For years, discussions on Nigeria’s telecom expansion have centred on penetration rates and pricing. However, this new report indicates a more significant shift. It’s not only about growth anymore. It is about resilience, creating networks, governance structures, and consumer safeguards that can withstand shocks while still delivering results to the teaming digital natives.
The NCC has made resilience a cornerstone of its approach. For instance, the 2023 Disaster Recovery Checklist is one of the main highlights. Under it, telecom providers must now provide thorough recovery plans to protect against vandalism, outages, and attacks.
This is not an abstract policy. According to the report produced by Communique, Nigerian telecom firms spent more than $23 million in 2023 to fix fibre cuts. By mid-2025, vandalism had increased to over 35,000 incidents. These figures emphasise the urgency.
In response, the government categorised telecommunications infrastructure as Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII). This rendered vandalism a criminal offence with severe consequences. It also spurred nationwide asset mapping and awareness efforts in collaboration with the National Security Adviser’s Office.
The message is clear: telecom infrastructure is no longer only commercial. They matter to national security.
Financing stability through tariff reform
In January 2025, the NCC approved the first tariff increase in over a decade. The increase was 50%, far less than the 100% demanded by the operators, but still significant.
For companies like MTN Nigeria and Airtel Africa, the hike has been transformative. MTN’s service revenue in the first quarter of 2025 rose 40.5 per cent to N1.1 trillion. Profits surged 134 per cent. Airtel also reported double-digit growth.
The hike was described as “restoring cost-reflective pricing” by NCC officials. In other words, prices now reflect the true cost of providing services in a high-inflation economy.
However, the consumer story is less rosy. Data traffic decreased from 1,000 petabytes in January to 983 petabytes in April. One million subscribers dropped off the internet in the first half of the year.
Nigerians are paying more and using less. Civil society groups like NATCOMS have warned that consumers will only tolerate these costs if quality improves. That sets up the next piece of the NCC’s resilience agenda.
Quality as a non-negotiable
The 2024 Quality of Service Regulations are some of the toughest rules the Nigerian telecom industry has seen. Operators must now achieve 90 per cent call completion, maintain minimal dropped calls, and resolve 90 per cent of complaints within a day.
Failure attracts fines that start at N5 million and increase by N500,000 daily. Operators also submit monthly quality reports, which the NCC verifies with independent drive tests.
To ensure transparency, the Tariff Simplification Guidelines limit operators to 100 bundles and seven base plans. This prevents consumers from being overwhelmed by opaque pricing structures.
Meanwhile, the Consumer Code of Practice 2024 requires operators to notify subscribers of outages, protect customer data, and compensate for service disruptions that last over 24 hours.
The ambition is bold.
Yet the report admits that enforcement is a challenge. Outage reporting portals are underutilised. Rural repairs remain slow. The rules exist, but their impact depends on strict execution.
Beyond infrastructure and tariffs, the NCC has turned to governance reform. The 2025 corporate governance code mandates clearer separation of roles between CEOs and chairpersons, the appointment of compliance officers, and stronger internal controls.
This is designed to build trust. Nigeria’s telecom sector contributes over 16 per cent to GDP today, and the NCC wants that to reach 22 per cent by 2027. Achieving this will require not only growth but also stability and credibility.
Investors want to know that Nigeria’s largest telecom firms are accountable. These reforms demonstrate that the sector is focused on developing long-term systems rather than just expanding.
The Type Approval Regulations 2024 added another layer of resiliency. All telecom equipment must meet stringent safety and cybersecurity requirements. A provisional approval method permits prototypes to be field tested for 180 days.
This has already resulted in more than $1 billion in new investment in equipment upgrades by mid-2025. Local innovation is encouraged, but only within the scope of protecting networks from substandard or insecure equipment.
The Device Management System adds degree of security by tracking and preventing uncertified devices from connecting to Nigerian networks. This protects customers while ensuring that the ecosystem expands safely.
Vandalism is still the greatest threat
Despite the advancements, the report acknowledges Nigeria’s challenges. Fibre cuts are prevalent. Power outages delay network recovery. Rural areas lag in terms of coverage and service quality.
Smaller operators struggle to cover the costs of compliance, increasing the prospect of a two-speed sector in which large firms consolidate control while others leave.
These concerns put the resilience framework being developed by the NCC to the test. They demonstrate the difference between policy and reality. However, they also emphasise areas where remedies are most needed: local hardware production, rural outreach, increased enforcement, and inter-agency coordination.
With over 169 million active lines and increasing demand for data services, Nigeria’s digital economy is heavily reliant on this industry. The NCC’s policies are bold and forward-thinking. They strike a balance between investor needs and consumer safety. They improve governance by fostering innovation. They criminalise vandalism while expecting disaster relief.
However, the real test is in implementation. Writing new regulations does not build resilience. It is accomplished by continuously enforcing them, protecting infrastructure, and ensuring that customers feel the benefits in their daily lives.
The Policy Impact Report 2025 makes one thing plain. Nigeria is no longer simply pursuing digital growth.
It is developing a long-lasting telecommunication system. If execution equals ambition, the country has the potential to become not only Africa’s largest telecom market, but also one of the continent’s most resilient digital economies.