Communications minister urges telecom operators to fix persistent network challenges
The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, has urged telecom operators in Nigeria to take urgent and decisive steps to resolve persistent network challenges affecting service delivery across the country.
The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, has urged telecom operators in Nigeria to take urgent and decisive steps to resolve persistent network challenges affecting service delivery across the country.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Tijani said the government had already created the necessary conditions for improved performance in the sector, adding that operators must now act to deliver better services to consumers.
According to him, “It is now the responsibility of telecom operators such as MTN Nigeria, Airtel Nigeria, Globacom, and T2 to take all necessary steps to resolve network challenges and deliver the level of service Nigerians expect.”
Tijani explained that when the administration assumed office, it identified Nigeria’s connectivity challenges as structural, driven by years of underinvestment in infrastructure and limitations that affected the ability of operators to deliver quality service.
He said the government responded with both long-term and immediate interventions.
On the long-term plan, Tijani said, “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.”
He added that fibre deployment would commence alongside new tower rollouts through NUCAP before the end of the year, while satellite capacity would also be expanded.
According to him, these investments are expected to address “the foundational gaps in our digital infrastructure over the next two to five years and permanently transform connectivity across Nigeria.”
Explaining the expected impact, Tijani said the goal is practical and focused on access, noting that “a small business owner should be able to access reliable, high-speed fibre internet directly at their home or shop, not rely solely on dongles or unstable mobile connections.”
On immediate sector reforms, he said the government took steps to stabilise the telecommunications industry, including tariff adjustments, designation of telecom infrastructure as critical national infrastructure, tax harmonisation efforts, and broader macroeconomic reforms such as the floating of the naira and removal of fuel subsidies.
He said these measures have created a more stable environment for operators, adding that they are now “operating in a more stable, transparent, and market-driven environment and have returned to profitability.”
Tijani argued that this development means operators now have both the capacity and resources to fix network challenges and improve service delivery.
He said the conditions for better service delivery have now been established and that telecom companies, including MTN Nigeria, Airtel Nigeria, Globacom, and T2, must act accordingly.
At the same time, he said the Nigerian Communications Commission has been fully empowered, without interference, to monitor performance, enforce service standards and ensure compliance across the sector.
According to him, the government will rely on the Commission’s periodic reports and public complaints to engage both operators and regulators more actively in the coming months.
He said Nigerians should begin to see measurable improvements in call quality, data performance and coverage, adding that “where operators deliver, it will be recognised, and where they do not, the Commission is expected to take appropriate regulatory action.”
Tijani concluded that Nigerians must begin to get value for money spent on telecom services, saying, “Nigerians should begin to see improvements in Quality of Service and get value that they paid for now, and in the future. And we will ensure that the sector delivers.”
