Nigeria’s 5G Rollout Lags Behind Device Readiness, Coverage Gap Persists at 55%

Latest data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and Ookla highlights ongoing challenges in Nigeria’s 5G rollout, with an average coverage gap of 55% as of December 2025. Despite widespread ownership of 5G-enabled smartphones, network availability remains limited, particularly in urban centres.

Lagos and FCT Abuja, the country’s major cities, recorded 5G coverage of just 27% and 31%, respectively, leaving the majority of capable devices still operating on 4G. While 5G promises faster speeds, lower latency, and support for millions of connected devices, infrastructure challenges continue to slow deployment.

MTN introduced 5G in Nigeria in September 2022, followed by Airtel in June 2023, and Mafab Communications in January 2023. Yet, despite growing smartphone adoption, more than half the time, 5G devices in Nigeria’s cities cannot access the network.

In Lagos, high-density commercial areas face coverage gaps of 64%, with MTN at 50% and Airtel at 77%. This affects business operations in key areas such as Lagos Island and Victoria Island. FCT Abuja’s coverage gap stood at 47.4%, indicating that nearly half of potential connections still fail. Urban areas outperform rural regions, underlining the persistent digital divide.

Currently, only MTN and Airtel are actively deploying 5G, with Mafab yet to launch commercial operations. This limited competition contributes to slow growth: only 6.3 million Nigerians (3.6% of subscribers) currently use 5G, while 4G remains dominant at 60%.

Infrastructure challenges compound the problem, including vandalism, fibre optic cuts, expensive tower upgrades, rights-of-way issues, and unreliable power and fuel supply.

The report stresses the need for operators to prioritise existing sites in Lagos and Abuja to reduce the coverage gap, potentially making the network accessible to nearly half of currently blocked users. Accelerating the phase-out of 2G and 3G networks would also free spectrum for 4G and 5G expansion.

Analysts note that wider 5G adoption could significantly boost Nigeria’s economy. Globally, 5G is expected to add $1 trillion to the economy by 2030, while Africa could see $26 billion in GDP growth from the technology. For Nigeria, expanding broadband coverage and reducing latency are critical steps toward bridging the digital divide and realising its digital economy ambitions.