Terrain challenges slow road network quality despite 0.1% zero-gap coverage

Nigerian Communication Commission

…As NCC pushes low-band spectrum for rural fixes

Nigeria’s major highways and intercity roads boast near-universal mobile coverage, with only about 0.1 percent of surveyed routes showing complete zero-service gaps, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC) Q4 2025 industry network performance report.

Yet, the regulator has warned that environmental and terrain obstacles, such as hills, dense forests, undulating landscapes, and remote mountainous areas, continue to degrade signal quality and cause intermittent connectivity, particularly in rural and border regions.

The findings, presented during stakeholder briefing on Wednesday, by Umar Abdullahi, special advisor to the executive vice chairman (Aminu Maida) on technical matters, highlight a stark contrast.

While trunk (interstate highways), primary (city-linking), and secondary (rural-access) roads collectively span hundreds of thousands of kilometers with robust overall coverage, real-world user experience suffers in challenging geographies.

Crowdsourced data from platforms like Ookla, overlaid with geospatial road maps, revealed that economic corridors like Lagos–Abuja–Port Harcourt) enjoy strong signals, but sparse connectivity persists in border towns and insecure rural zones.

“These gaps are not about absence of infrastructure but about propagation challenges. Hills, trees, and terrain create natural barriers that higher-frequency bands struggle to overcome,” Abdullahi explained during the session.

Read also: Nigeria’s Telcos face N12.4bn penalties in NCC’s toughest QoS crackdown yet

He noted that while 4G remains the most balanced and reliable technology nationwide, delivering consistent performance for streaming, calls, and data, this backbone weakens in difficult environments, with fallback to older 3G or 2G networks common.

The report identifies roughly 326 kilometers of primary roads with zero-service zones, a tiny fraction of Nigeria’s vast ~290,000+ km road network, but emphasizes that quality metrics (signal strength via RSRP ≥ -100 dBm for coverage, ideally ≥ -95 dBm; and signal quality via RSRQ) vary significantly.

Trunk roads, often high-speed interstate routes with lower user density, show the lowest compliance, while secondary roads serving communities fare better.

Stakeholders raised concerns about persistent fluctuations on routes like Benin corridors and states such as Niger, Ekiti, Osun, and Ondo.

In response, Abdullahi clarified that the NCC uses detailed maps and crowdsourced analytics to engage operators on targeted fixes, beyond mere kilometer counts. Alternatives like microwave backhauling (instead of fiber-only) were also highlighted for remote areas.

The NCC is also accelerating efforts to prioritize low-band spectrum (sub-1 GHz bands, including 700 MHz and discussions around 600 MHz) for better penetration and wider reach with fewer base stations.

This aligns with the Commission’s recently unveiled Draft Spectrum Roadmap for the Communications Sector (2025–2030), which projects massive growth in mobile subscriptions (from ~171.6 million in 2025 to ~220 million by 2030) and data traffic (tripling to 31.7 exabytes).

The roadmap emphasizes releasing “second digital dividend” bands like 450 MHz and 600 MHz to accelerate rural broadband, reduce deployment costs, and support 4G densification while enabling 5G in urban cores.

Edoyemi Ogoh, the director of technical standards & network integrity, NCC noted that mobile licenses carry nationwide obligations, but rollout prioritizes population centers.

To address mobility-specific gaps, the Commission has introduced the Aeronautical Station Emission (ASE) framework, issuing licenses for broadband on trains, buses, maritime vessels, and aircraft, complementing terrestrial efforts with satellite alternatives.

Despite the challenges, the NCC remains optimistic. Broadband penetration surpassed 50 percent in 2025, with median 4G speeds improving notably post-spectrum trades (e.g., MTN–T2/9mobile deals). The regulator continues data-driven monitoring, operator engagements, and policy tools like the Spectrum Roadmap to close remaining gaps and support Nigeria’s digital economy goals under the Renewed Hope Agenda.

The Commission has also invited stakeholder input through ongoing consultations to refine these initiatives.

Royal Ibeh is a senior journalist with years of experience reporting on Nigeria’s technology and health sectors. She currently covers the Technology and Health beats for BusinessDay newspaper, where she writes in-depth stories on digital innovation, telecom infrastructure, healthcare systems, and public health policies.

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