Airtel Nigeria is closing in on 18,000 cell sites as the telecom operator steps up network expansion across the country, adding more than 1,000 sites a year and taking high-speed connectivity into more rural communities.
The operator’s network now covers all 774 local government areas in Nigeria, putting Airtel among the companies making significant investments in the country’s digital infrastructure.
More than 99 percent of Airtel’s sites are 4G-enabled, as the company continues to build new sites and upgrade existing ones to keep up with rising demand for mobile and data services.
According to Airtel Africa’s latest annual report, its Nigerian business added more than 1,050 sites during the 2025–26 financial year. That brings the operator’s network to more than 17,000 sites, up from roughly 15,000 two years ago.
The expansion is also reaching communities that have historically had limited access to reliable telecom infrastructure. Recent deployments include Kukawa in Borno State, Okomu-Udo in Edo, Chimbi in Niger, Orile Ijaiye in Oyo, Kopii in Benue and Aran-Orin in Kwara, among others.
Airtel has said a significant part of its network investment is focused on deep-rural communities, smaller towns and areas on the outskirts of major cities.
Speaking at a media roundtable in February, Airtel Nigeria CEO Dinesh Balsingh said the company planned to maintain the pace of its network rollout throughout 2026.
“Everyone has the right to digital connectivity, including people in deep rural markets and small communities,” Balsingh said.
Beyond calls and data
The impact of wider network coverage goes beyond making phone calls or browsing the internet.
For families in remote communities, better connectivity makes it easier to stay in touch. For businesses, it supports digital payments, customer communication, logistics and online commerce. It also gives more people access to banking, education, healthcare and government services.
Farmers can use mobile connectivity to check market prices, weather updates and agricultural information, while small businesses can rely on mobile data to reach customers and manage daily operations.
Airtel is also investing in the capacity of the network it already has, rather than focusing only on building new sites.
In 2025, the company upgraded capacity at about a quarter of its existing sites, including the deployment of higher-capacity radios and the migration of parts of its backhaul infrastructure from microwave links to fibre.
The operator has also increased its spectrum holdings. Since November 2025, Airtel has added 20MHz of spectrum, which the company expects to fully integrate across its network this quarter.
Balsingh said the investments are aimed at improving coverage, capacity and network resilience, with the ultimate goal of delivering a better experience for customers.
“We have invested with discipline and clarity to strengthen our network nationwide,” he said. “Those investments are now translating into measurable improvements in performance, customer experience and reach, including in underserved communities.”
Third-party measurements also point to improving mobile performance in Nigeria. Ookla’s Speedtest Global Index recorded a median mobile download speed of 97.74 Mbps in Nigeria in June 2026.
For Airtel, however, the expansion is about more than increasing its geographical footprint. The company is also looking to give existing customers faster speeds, greater capacity and more stable connections.
Ismail Adeshina, Airtel Nigeria’s director of marketing, said the company’s network investments are ultimately focused on making connectivity more useful in Nigerians’ everyday lives as more people and businesses depend on mobile services.
As mobile connectivity becomes increasingly important to financial services, commerce, education, healthcare, agriculture and other parts of the economy, Airtel’s continued network rollout could also help bring more Nigerians into the country’s growing digital economy.
“Expanding the physical network effectively increases the number of Nigerians able to participate in those activities,” Adeshina said.
