Need for Wi-fi at Nigerian Airports

Chinedu Eze

In the early 20s, major airports in the world started installing Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) system for air travellers, which significantly improved passengers’ comfort.

Before this time, when passengers arrived at international airports they struggle to buy Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards to enable them make calls to home and elsewhere.

But with Wi-Fi connectivity at the airports, a burden was removed from travellers because Wi-Fi prides essential connectivity for passengers’ convenience, productivity and real-time information access.

According to 7Signal.com, “No matter where you are in the world, working in the travel business can come with a long list of challenges. The top priority, of course, is customer satisfaction, and a big part of that relies on a consistent and reliable WI-FI connection.

“People will undoubtedly use it for things like work, social media, or connecting with loved ones. If the Wi-Fi connection isn’t reliable, this will cause a decent amount of frustration, which can lead to poor reviews for the airport, and these travellers may pick a different travel hub in the future.  To ensure every area in an airport carries a strong Wi-Fi signal, you might need the help of a few tools. This guide will outline everything you may require to stay connected while you travel.”

Over the years Wi-Fi connection quality has become a significant factor considered in rating airports.  It is viewed by passengers and rating agencies alike as a fundamental utility for modern travel, with its performance directly impacting overall airport, customer satisfaction, and Skytrax star ratings.

Nigeria, however, joined the party very late. For several years, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) had made efforts to connect the then four major airports to Wi-Fi, but failed. The first was the collaboration with first indigenous mobile network provider, Globacom. Many Nigerian travellers and airport users were elated at the prospect, but the high expectation was dashed by poor connectivity and eventually extinction of that transaction.

But last week, FAAN and Nigeria’s biggest network provider, MTN started collaboration with the connection of Wi-Fi at the major five airports in the country, starting with the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.

The long awaited critical amenity that defines modern airports, which is Wifeless Fidelity (Wi-Fi), has been installed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.

With the Wi-Fi connection, Lagos airport became more competitive in global rating last week when FAAN’s Managing Director, Mrs. Olubunmi Kuku, confirmed the installation of Wi-fi at the airport and described the rollout as more than a convenience and an essential amenity in passenger comfort.

Kuku said airports were no longer mere transit lounges but micro-cities where contracts are negotiated, diplomatic briefs are reviewed and life’s most emotional reunions unfold in real time.

During demonstration, with the flick of a switch, waiting areas were transformed into connected workspaces and airport users and travellers could connect to any part of the world with their cell phones.

FAAN said the service comes at no cost to the Authority or to the passengers.

According to its Director of Commercial and Business Development, Ms. Joy Agunbiade, the arrangement is structured as a Public-Private Partnership, with MTN leveraging branding rights within airport spaces to offset operational expenses.

The agency said brand ambassadors have been deployed across terminals to guide travellers through the simple log-on process, while strict data protection safeguards are embedded within the system.

“In fact, in this moment, we do have offices and admissions offices where you can go and study such in-house of what could be offered to you. We are going to have brand ambassadors across the airport that will engage customers who may find it difficult to go through the journey,” she said.

FAAN said expansion plans were already underway, with Kano, Port Harcourt and Enugu airports set to join the network in the coming months.

As the first wave of passengers logged on, the message was unmistakable. Nigeria’s aviation gateways are shedding the image of “offline islands” and embracing a connected future.

For MTN Nigeria, the initiative underscores the commercial and social value of public-private collaboration.

Representing the Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Karl Toriola, the company’s Chief Enterprise Business Officer, Mrs. Cynthia Saint-Nwafor, said the network was engineered to handle heavy passenger traffic, supported by smart analytics to monitor usage patterns and maintain performance.

But beyond the installation of the system, another challenge of the installation of Wi-Fi is the efficiency of its services. Many airports in Africa have Wi-Fi that show they are working but when you connect to them, they will not give you efficient services.

Criticisms had trailed the failure of Nigeria to install Wi-Fi at its airports, especially the international facilities, where people travel in and want to communicate with their loved ones overseas. Some attributed the late connection to the fact that Nigeria does not have efficient network providers, as many of them face epileptic power supply and have to generally provide their own power.

But many airport users have been commending the FAAN boss, Mrs. Kuku, who has made tremendous changes in the infrastructure transformation of the airports.

With the introduction of Wi-Fi at the Lagos airport, it has joined the highly rated airport in Nigeria and with the modernisation and expansion of the facilities in Lagos and work going on at other airports under FAAN management, even industry critics have acquiesced to her unusual leadership and apparent competence in the management of FAAN.

It is also expected that the Wi-Fi connection should be extended to other major airports in the country and further to busy domestic airports because having Wi-Fi at airports contribute to passenger comfort.

When THISDAY visited the international airport terminal at Lagos airport on Wednesday, some passengers happily said that they connected to the Wi-Fi, while others said they could not connect to the network but in coming days, it is expected that the network would become more efficient.

An IT online magazine, TechCabal.com in its April 7, 2025 publication, explained that Nigerian had not provided Wi-Fi at the airports because free WiFi doesn’t come cheap.

This involved Laying fibre, installing access points, securing bandwidth, and maintaining uptime costs real money. But for internet service providers (ISPs), the return on that investment is murky. Free WiFi isn’t a direct revenue driver unless it’s bundled with advertising, user analytics, or other monetized services.

“The airport might start initially paying, but their expectation is the service provider will find a way to make money from the service. So, the airport might pay for installation and maybe a few months of bandwidth. This leaves service providers trying to find a way to commercialize,” Ladi Okuneye, CEO of UniCloud, a local cloud infrastructure provider, told TechCabal.

The online magazine also reported that the most widely considered commercial model for public Wi-Fi is advertising. However, major ad platforms like Google typically won’t enter revenue-sharing agreements with service providers unless the network attracts significant traffic—often tens of thousands of users.

The report however did not take cognizance of the fact that FAAN runs about 26 airports, these airports generate huge sums of money annually from advertising. MTN collaborating with FAAN in providing Wi-Fi at the major airports will create huge opportunities for the network provider to make itself more visible at these 26 airports that record over 15 million passenger traffic annually.