Airtel Nigeria has accelerated the expansion of its 5G network, integrating more than 1,000 new sites across the country in the past year, as rising data consumption puts growing pressure on mobile networks nationwide.
The rollout, which gained momentum from August 2025, has seen the telecommunications company add 759 new 5G sites since December alone. The expansion extends high-speed connectivity beyond Airtel’s initial deployment areas into a wider range of major cities and urban centres across Nigeria.
Airtel launched its 5G service in Nigeria in June 2023, becoming one of the first operators to introduce the technology into the country’s commercial telecoms market. Three years later, the scale of the current deployment marks a significant acceleration in the company’s network investment.
The push comes as Nigerians consume increasing volumes of mobile data, driven by growing use of smartphones, video streaming, cloud applications, artificial intelligence tools and digital commerce. According to the company, data usage per customer rose by 30.8 percent over the past year to reach 11GB a month, while smartphone data usage climbed to 13.7GB per customer monthly.
Airtel’s Chief Technology Officer, Harmanpreet Singh Dhillon, said the expansion was designed to keep the network aligned with changing demands from Nigerian consumers and businesses. He said customers were using more data, businesses were moving more operations online, and technologies such as artificial intelligence were creating new demands on connectivity.
The company said wider 5G coverage would translate to faster downloads, smoother streaming and video calls, and greater capacity for data-heavy applications for everyday users. For businesses, it said the added capacity and lower latency associated with 5G would support digital payments, cloud tools, online sales and more advanced connected systems for larger enterprises.
Airtel’s Director of Business, Ogo Ofomata, said the expansion was aimed at giving customers and businesses the connectivity needed to participate more fully in Nigeria’s digital economy. “5G is creating room for a much richer digital experience,” she said, adding that it would give businesses the capacity to build and deliver new digital services.
The company said it would continue expanding its 5G footprint across key locations nationwide as part of its broader push to support the growth of Nigeria’s digital economy, including emerging demands from artificial intelligence and online business services.
