Airtel leads fibre optics expansion in Nigeria after surpassing Glo and MTN in 2022

Key takeaways

  • Airtel has shown the most aggressive fibre optic expansion, increasing from 4,632 km in 2012 to 16,112 km in 2022
  • Glo initially led with 16,224 km in 2012, but its fibre optic deployment later declined and stabilised around 13,000 km from 2018 to 2022
  • Between 2019 and 2022, MTN's deployment remained unchanged at 14,612 km
  • 9mobile's fibre deployment peaked in 2018 at 4,650 km and remained unchanged till 2022

Nigeria’s major GSM operators have expanded their on-land fibre optic networks significantly over the years, but at different paces. Airtel has been the most aggressive, surpassing both MTN and Glo, with a fibre optic network reaching 16,112 km by 2022. In contrast, 9mobile has had minimal expansion, with its fibre network stagnating at 4,650 km since 2018.
This highlights the varying strategies of operators in Nigeria’s telecom sector, with Airtel prioritising on-land fibre optics infrastructure expansion while others maintain steady or declining investments.

Source:

Nigerian Communications Commission

Period:

2012-2022
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