3 years after, NCC reports sluggish growth in 5G penetration

Fifth-generation (5G) network penetration in Nigeria has witnessed sluggish growth since the issuance of licences to three network service providers in 2021 and 2022. The industry’s report released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) revealed that 5G penetration grew from 0.12 per cent in May, 2023, to 1.11 per cent in January, 2024. The network […]

Fifth-generation (5G) network penetration in Nigeria has witnessed sluggish growth since the issuance of licences to three network service providers in 2021 and 2022.

The industry’s report released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) revealed that 5G penetration grew from 0.12 per cent in May, 2023, to 1.11 per cent in January, 2024.

The network coverage which had seen massive investment by telecom operators closed the year 2023 with an adoption rate of 1.04 per cent in December. But the growth was sluggish in January, at 1.11 per cent.

In December, 2021, MTN Nigeria and Mafab Nigeria Communications Limited emerged winners of a 5G auction after about eight hours and 11 rounds of bidding.

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A year later, Airtel emerged as the sole winner of the second phase of the 5G auction. MTN deployed its 5G in Lagos and six other cities in August, 2022.

In 2023, Airtel deployed 5G in Lagos, FCT, Ogun and Rivers. For MAFAB, the NCC said upon the issuance of the 5G licence, Mafab publicly launched its services in Abuja on January 24, 2023, and in Lagos on January 26, 2023.

Mafab services were targeted at six cities: Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Kano and Kaduna.

However, the industry’s report showed that 5G was the least adopted by subscribers utilising telecommunications services per the various mobile phone generations currently deployed in Nigeria.

According to the NCC, the 2G network is the most adopted, at 57.78 per cent, 4G network adoption is at 31.75 per cent, 3G is 9.36 per cent, while the 5G settled at 1.11 per cent as of the review month.

Aside the low 5G adoption, the industry saw a plunge in the number of active lines from 224,713,710 in December, 2023, to 218,400,965 in December, 2024, resulting in the fall of teledensity from 103.66 per cent to 100.75 per cent in January.

The number of active internet service subscribers also fell from 163,838,439 in December, last year to 161,977,883 in January, 2024.