Four months after the expiration of Nigeria's National Broadband Plan (NNBP) 2020 to 2025, telecom operators are intensifying calls for a new broadband policy framework, saying the country needs a more practical and better-aligned roadmap. According to data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), broadband penetration stood at 51.97 percent at the end of the plan, falling short of the 70 percent target. ATCON President Tony Emoekpere said Nigeria's challenge has been execution, not planning. The NCC has signalled that a successor plan is being developed, with lessons learned from the previous cycle.
Key Points
- Nearly half of internet users in Nigeria still lack access to high-speed internet.
- Right-of-way approvals, multiple taxation, and poor power supply constrain infrastructure rollout.
- No local smartphone assembly plant exists despite a plan target, with cheapest phones now above N100,000.
- Only 52.95 percent of mobile subscriptions are on 4G, missing the 70 percent target.
- Isolated projects like Project BRIDGE need a coherent national framework.
Watch for the NCC's new broadband plan and whether it addresses execution failures, right-of-way bottlenecks, and smartphone affordability.
Sources: Nairametrics
