The Nigerian Communications Commission hailed its progress in improving connectivity in Nigeria, revealing base stations and fibre optic cables were rolled out rapidly after a regulatory restructure.
In a statement, executive vice-chairman Umar Danbatta said in a briefing in Abuja, in the last five years the number of 3G/4G base stations increased from 30,000 to 53,460, while fibre optic cables expanded from 47,000km to 54,725km, “resulting in improved broadband/telecoms service delivery to Nigerians”.
Danbatta the “regulatory regime” of the commission was the catalyst of the increased deployment of infrastructure by operators.
“The base transceiver stations, fibre optic cables and other related infrastructure are central to the provision of improved service experience for Nigerians by their respective telecoms service providers,” said Danbatta.
The executive vice-chairman added licensed Infrastructure Companies (InfraCos) is expected to add 38,296km of optic fibre cables when they commence full operations.
As of November 2020, active telephony subscribers stood at 208 million, while active Internet subscriptions were 154.9 million and a broadband penetration of 45.07%.