Nigeria’s 70% broadband goal at risk as NCC records decline again in July
Broadband penetration in Nigeria declined for the second consecutive month in July to 48.01% as the number of Nigerians having access to high-speed internet dropped.
Earlier in June, broadband penetration had declined from 48.8% in May to 48.7%.
This came despite a recent assurance by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) that country was on course to achieve the 70% penetration target by this year-end as set in the National Broadband Policy (NBP 2020-2025).
According to data released by the NCC, the number of broadband connections in Nigeria declined from 105.7 million in June to 104 million in July.
Other targets already missed
Aside from the overall 70% target at the end of 2025, which is set to be missed, the country has missed several other targets set in the broadband plan.
Going by the timelines of the Plan, broadband penetration in the country was expected to be at 50% at the end of 2023. However, at the end of the year, penetration stood at 43.71% and rose marginally to 44.43% at the end of 2024.
Recognizing the high cost of smartphones as one of the access barriers to broadband in the country, the Plan developed by key experts in the ICT industry appointed by the government, recommends that the country should have at least one smartphone assembly plant by 2023.
This was to ensure the price of an entry-level smartphone in the country could be as low as N18,000.
However, the country currently has no local smartphone assembly plant, while costs of smartphones in the country have skyrocketed as a result of the Naira devaluation. The cheapest smartphone in the market currently sells for more than N100,000.
According to the Plan, part of the milestones to measure progress include that 70% of telecom subscriptions should be on 4G by 2023. However, NCC’s data shows that only 50.85% of the 169.3 million active subscriptions in the country were on 4G as of July 2025.
Obstacles to implementation
The slow pace of movement in the implementation of the Broadband Plan is being blamed on several challenges inhibiting the deployment of infrastructure.
Specifically, high cost of Right of Way charges by states is seen as one major bottleneck as operators are paying through the nose to states, with the exception seven states that have waived the fees.
The Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida, emphasized this at a recent telecom forum, noting that while the federal government is targeting 70% broadband penetration through the NBP 2020-2025, major obstacles to achieving the goals are coming from states.
According to him, several state regulations and policies are working against the plan and they would need to be reviewed for the states to reap the benefits of the digital economy from ubiquitous broadband penetration.
Describing broadband connectivity as a catalyst for economic growth, driving the digital economy, creating job opportunities, and fostering entrepreneurship, Maida said broadband connectivity would bridge the digital divide and make digital tools accessible to all citizens.
What you should know
As of March 2020, when the National Broadband Plan was launched, Nigeria’s broadband penetration stood at 39.85% with some 75.4 million Nigerians connected to broadband service.
This shows that Nigeria has not really made much progress with the implementation and results in the last four years.
However, Nigeria is seeing steady growth in data consumption despite the slow pace of broadband penetration. Nairametrics reported that data consumption in the country hit an all-time high of 1.1 million terabytes in July 2025.
