Airtel accelerates 5G rollout with over 1,000 new sites in one year

Airtel Nigeria has integrated more than 1,000 new 5G sites in the last one year, ramping up its network build-out across major cities and urban centres. The pace has increased since August 2025, with 759 5G sites added since December alone.

The expansion extends Airtel's fifth-generation network beyond its initial deployment areas, bringing faster and higher-capacity mobile connectivity to more consumers and businesses. Airtel launched 5G in Nigeria in June 2023, becoming one of the first operators to introduce the technology commercially. The company now surpasses 17,000 cell sites.

Network investment accelerates

Airtel's latest push comes as data demand rises sharply across Nigeria. Smartphone use, cloud applications, artificial intelligence tools, video platforms and digital commerce are driving higher bandwidth consumption. Airtel reported that data usage per customer in Nigeria rose by 30.8% during the year to 11GB per month, while smartphone data usage reached 13.7GB per customer per month.

Chief Technology Officer Harmanpreet Singh Dhillon said the expansion is designed to keep pace with changing customer needs. "The scale of our 5G deployment reflects the pace at which Nigeria is becoming a digital economy. Customers are using more data, businesses are moving more of their operations online, and new technologies such as artificial intelligence are creating entirely new demands on connectivity," he said.

He added: "Our objective is to provide customers with a network that is faster, more responsive and capable of handling significantly greater volumes of data. We are continuing to expand 5G across key locations so that more Nigerians can experience the benefits of the technology as the ecosystem develops."

What 5G expansion means for businesses and consumers

For consumers, wider 5G availability means faster downloads and uploads, improved streaming, smoother video calls and better responsiveness on data-heavy applications. Businesses stand to gain from additional capacity and lower latency. Small businesses can use faster connectivity for digital payments, cloud tools, online sales, remote collaboration and digital marketing. Larger enterprises can deploy more sophisticated connected applications, including industrial systems and advanced cloud services.

The expansion also supports education through virtual classrooms and digital learning platforms, and it underpins Nigeria's growing interest in artificial intelligence, which relies on fast, reliable connectivity to access cloud resources and deliver services on mobile devices.

Director of Airtel Business, Ogo Ofomata, said the rollout is about giving consumers and businesses the connectivity needed to participate fully in the digital economy. "The way Nigerians live, work, learn and do business is changing rapidly. Connectivity has become central to that change. As more people depend on their smartphones for work, entertainment, commerce, education and communication, the quality and capacity of the network become increasingly important," she said.

"5G is creating room for a much richer digital experience. It supports the kind of speed and responsiveness that consumers increasingly expect, while giving businesses the capacity to build and deliver new digital services. Our job is to make sure the network is ready for that future," Ofomata added.

With more 5G sites being integrated across the country, Airtel is positioning its network as a major platform for Nigeria's next phase of digital development, linking everyday smartphone use with the expanding demands of businesses, education and artificial intelligence.