Airtel crosses 17,000 cell sites, adds over 1,050 in a year as rural coverage grows

Airtel Nigeria has crossed 17,000 cell sites and is closing in on 18,000, after adding more than 1,050 new sites in the 2025-26 financial year. The operator's network now reaches all 774 local government areas, with over 99 percent of sites running on 4G.

Two years, 2,000 new sites

Airtel Africa's latest annual report shows the Nigerian arm added more than 1,050 sites during the 2025-26 financial year. That lifts the total from roughly 15,000 sites two years ago to over 17,000 by early 2026.

The expansion is targeted at underserved communities, including Kukawa in Borno State, Okomu-Udo in Edo State, Chimbi in Niger State, Orile Ijaiye in Oyo State, Kopii in Benue State, and Aran-Orin in Kwara. Airtel says a big share of its network investment goes to deep rural areas, small towns and city fringes.

At a media roundtable in February, Chief Executive Officer Dinesh Balsingh said the company would keep up the pace through 2026. “Everyone has the right to digital connectivity, including people in deep rural markets and small communities,” he said.

Upgrades and spectrum push

Airtel also upgraded capacity on about a quarter of its existing sites in 2025, installing higher-capacity radios and shifting some backhaul from microwave to fibre. Since November 2025, the company has added 20MHz of spectrum, which it says is on track for full integration across all sites this quarter.

“We have invested with discipline and clarity to strengthen our network nationwide. Those investments are now translating into measurable improvements in performance, customer experience and reach, including in underserved communities,” Balsingh said.

Third-party checks back the improvement. Ookla's Speedtest Global Index put Nigeria's median mobile download speed at 97.74 Mbps in June 2026.

Meaning for consumers and business

Wider coverage means more than just calls and internet. Farmers can get crop prices, weather data and market information. Small businesses can handle payments, logistics and digital commerce. Communities gain better access to banking, education, healthcare and government services.

Director of Marketing Ismail Adeshina said the expansion increases how many Nigerians can take part in the digital economy. “With mobile connectivity increasingly serving as the platform for financial services, commerce, education, healthcare, agriculture and enterprise, expanding the physical network effectively increases the number of Nigerians able to participate in those activities,” he said.

For the naira and Nigerian businesses, Airtel's build-out supports digital payments and e-commerce, which rely on stable data connections. More connectivity in rural areas also opens new customer bases for banks, fintechs and online merchants, helping drive cashless transactions and business activity beyond the big cities.