Airtel Nigeria has said 2026 will be a major year of network expansion as the company plans to scale investments aimed at improving coverage, capacity and digital resilience across the country.
Managing director and chief oxecutive officer of the company Dinesh Balsingh disclosed this on Thursday during an Airtel media roundtable held in Lagos.
Mr Balsingh said Airtel expanded its network footprint by about 15 per cent between December 2023 and early 2025, increasing the number of its sites from about 15,000 to 17,000, with further expansion planned.
“Over the last two years, we have expanded our geographical network by close to 15 per cent, and we intend to repeat that scale of expansion again in 2026,” he said.
He explained that the company’s investments were targeted at deep rural communities, small towns and areas on the fringes of major cities, to improve network coverage and resilience.
“Everyone has the right to digital connectivity, including people in deep rural markets and small communities,” Balsingh said.
According to him, Airtel has deployed satellite technology in areas where fibre access is difficult, noting that some communities in Adamawa and other parts of northern Nigeria are now connected through Starlink.
“These are very remote villages where terrestrial fibre was practically impossible, but satellite connectivity is performing very well,” he said.
Balsingh also said Airtel upgraded capacity on about 25 per cent of its existing sites in 2025 by deploying higher-capacity radios and migrating backhaul from microwave to fibre.
He added that 99.99 per cent of Airtel’s network sites are now 4G-enabled, including in remote locations, while spectrum capacity on the 4G network has been increased by about 20 per cent to meet growing data demand.
“4G remains the backbone of mobile data usage, and expanding spectrum is like widening the highway for traffic,” he said.
On 5G, Balsingh said Airtel has more than doubled its 5G sites in the last three months and plans to migrate about 25 per cent of its network in the top 20 cities to 5G over time.
He also disclosed that Airtel is expanding its fibre backbone by about 25 per cent and has completed nearly half of the rollout. He added that the company is planning a second internet breakout point from southern Nigeria to strengthen national network resilience.
“These investments are about building scale, capacity and resilience for the long-term future of Nigeria,” Balsingh said.
He said Airtel is also strengthening its artificial intelligence and data centre capabilities, including a hyperscaler-ready facility expected to support advanced analytics, network automation and consumer protection services.
Balsingh acknowledged challenges such as fibre cuts and infrastructure damage but commended government and regulatory efforts aimed at protecting telecom assets under the Critical National Information Infrastructure framework.
“We are very happy with what the government and the regulator are doing around CNII, especially the focus on reducing fibre cuts, which affect all operators and consumers,” he said.
Balsingh said Airtel remained committed to sustained investment, describing 2026 as another major year for network and digital infrastructure development in Nigeria.
