Technology
Navigating the Path to Sustainable Telecom Services for Subscribers
By Dinesh Balsingh
As Nigeria continues its journey towards becoming a digitally driven economy, reliable telecommunications services remain the backbone of our collective progress. At Airtel Nigeria, we are committed to delivering world-class connectivity to millions of Nigerians, enabling economic growth, empowering businesses, and enhancing lives.
We understand that the future technology needs of the country, as ushered in by the highspeed 5G era of AI, Cloud computing, Data science applications, and Blockchain, should be directing significant investments towards building a resilient network. However, the industry faces significant challenges that require a closer look as we strive to maintain the high standards that our customers deserve.
Increased Intensity of Investments: The increasing demand for digital services across sectors such as education, media, banking, transportation, and manufacturing has come with an increased demand for telecom capacity.
Upgrading networks to deliver more data capacity is key to a sustainable future. To help ensure that the Nigerian economy keeps pace with the global improvements in technology and communications while supporting the aspirations of consumers, we also take on the responsibility of executing new technology and system upgrades as well as improved security. Data security is now more than ever a priority as more and more people upload personal information online.
All of these require significant investments which are sourced from the international markets at costs denominated in US Dollars. In the past three to four years, for instance, the dollar has gone from exchanging for about N500 to over N1,600. This more than three-fold increase in foreign exchange conversion exponentially increases the cost of investments required to run a good quality network.
In addition to this unprecedented hike in capital expenditure, the operating costs have surged dramatically, with operating expenses rising by over 300% in the last 18 to 24 months alone.
While several critical areas of the business are impacted, I would, for expediency, focus on three of those areas: Rising Energy Costs, Infrastructure Challenges, and a Commitment to Quality Service.
Rising Energy Costs: Powering telecommunication infrastructure requires significant energy resources. Energy is the single largest operating cost for running a network. With increasing global energy prices and while efforts are ongoing to fully stabilize the power supply in Nigeria, Airtel Nigeria and other operators in the sector are incurring soaring costs to keep networks running seamlessly.
Infrastructure Challenges: The industry continues to grapple with rampant fibre cuts and vandalization of critical infrastructure. These incidents not only disrupt services but also demand substantial investments to repair and maintain facilities.
Commitment to Quality Service: Despite these challenges, Airtel Nigeria has remained steadfast in ensuring quality of service. From expanding 4G and 5G networks to meeting growing demand in urban and rural areas, we have painstakingly absorbed the rising costs of these obligations to avoid compromising the customer experience and ensuring Nigerians, regardless of their location, have access to mobile communication and remain connected to the digital economy.
Telecommunications operators have worked tirelessly to sustain services despite keeping tariffs unchanged for the last 10 years. While tariffs have remained static for over a decade, the economic realities necessitate a review to ensure the sustainability of services hence our recent application to the government for tariff adjustment which if approved will be a step towards addressing this imbalance. It is not a decision taken lightly but one borne out of the need to guarantee continued investment in network expansion, technology upgrades, and improved service delivery.
The telecommunications sector is pivotal to Nigeria’s ambition to become a digital economy leader in Africa. Meeting this aspiration requires operators to make substantial investments in network infrastructure, spectrum acquisition, and innovative solutions. These investments come at a cost, one that must be shared proportionally to ensure long-term viability.
At Airtel Nigeria, we remain resolute in our commitment to:
Delivering Quality Services: The government continues to monitor operators’ compliance with service quality standards. Airtel is dedicated to surpassing these benchmarks, ensuring customers experience uninterrupted and superior connectivity.
Driving Economic Growth: By expanding our network and enhancing digital inclusivity, we are enabling the government’s economic turnaround agenda and fostering opportunities for all Nigerians.
Being a Reliable Partner: Despite industry challenges, we are steadfast in our role as a trusted partner in Nigeria’s digital transformation journey.
While significant tariff adjustments have become warranted for the sustainability of the industry, Airtel has always been sensitive to affordability and understands that the price adjustments must be done gradually to support our customers’ financial positions. We believe that approval of revised tariffs will empower operators to invest in capacity, expand coverage to underserved areas, aim for advanced security on the networks, and improve service quality and network availability while ensuring that Nigeria remains competitive in the global digital landscape.
As we navigate the present imperatives together, we urge all stakeholders, including customers, regulators, and partners to recognize the importance of building a resilient telecommunications ecosystem. Airtel Nigeria remains committed to delivering unmatched value while supporting the nation’s economic development.
Dinesh Balsingh is the Managing Director/CEO of Airtel Nigeria
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The language support for its AI Search features has been expanded by Google, with the inclusion of Yoruba and Hausa in Nigeria.
This is part of a broader effort to make AI more inclusive across the continent, with support now extending to a total of 13 African languages.
Under the AI Overviews and AI Mode, speakers of both Nigerian languages can utilise AI-powered Search experiences in their mother tongue for quick summaries and conversational exploration.
This means existing AI features in Google Search are now accessible to people like the student in Kano asking a question in Hausa, and the trader in Ibadan seeking advice in Yorùbá.
By addressing language barriers, this update ensures that technology reflects the identity and culture of the people it serves. With this expansion, more people can now use AI Mode to ask complex questions in their preferred language, while exploring the web more deeply and naturally through text or voice.
The 13 languages now supported across Africa include Afrikaans, Akan, Amharic, Hausa, Kinyarwanda, Afaan Oromoo, Somali, Sesotho, Kiswahili, Setswana, Wolof, Yorùbá, and isiZulu.
These languages were chosen based on the vibrant search activity across the continent, ensuring that our AI experiences reach the communities that need them most.
Commenting on the development, the Communications and Public Affairs Manager for Google in West Africa, Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, said, “Building a truly global Search goes far beyond translation — it requires a nuanced understanding of local information.
“With the advanced multimodal and reasoning capabilities of our custom version of Gemini in Search, we’ve made huge strides in language understanding, so our most advanced AI search capabilities are locally relevant and useful in each new language we support.
“This is about ensuring Nigerians can converse with Search in their mother tongues, making information more helpful for everyone.”
To use AI Overviews and AI Mode in the local language, users must open the Google app on an Android or iOS device, or via the Web. They are required to tap on AI Mode within the Search experience. Thereafter, they can type or speak the question in their preferred language, such as Hausa or Yorùbá, and let the AI guide the journey.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Telecommunications operators in Nigeria will now be required to give subscribers a minimum of 14 days’ notice before deactivating their SIM cards over inactivity or post-paid churn, following a fresh proposal by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
The proposal is contained in a consultation paper, signed by the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NCC, Mr Aminu Maida, and titled Stakeholders Consultation Process for the Telecoms Identity Risks Management Platform, dated February 26, 2026, and published on the Commission’s website.
Under the proposed amendments to the Quality-of-Service (QoS) Business Rules, the Commission said operators must notify affected subscribers ahead of any planned churn.
“Prior to churning of a post-paid line, the Operator shall send a notification to the affected subscriber through an alternative line or an email on the pending churning of his line,” the document stated.
It added that “this notification shall be sent at least 14 days before the final date for the churn of the number.”
A similar provision was proposed for prepaid subscribers. According to the Commission, operators must equally notify prepaid customers via an alternative line or email at least 14 days before the final churn date.
Currently, under Section 2.3.1 of the QoS Business Rules, a subscriber’s line may be deactivated if it has not been used for six months for a revenue-generating event. If the inactivity persists for another six months, the subscriber risks losing the number entirely, except in cases of proven network-related faults.
The new proposal is part of a broader regulatory review tied to the rollout of the Telecoms Identity Risk Management System (TIRMS), a cross-sector platform designed to curb fraud linked to recycled, swapped and barred mobile numbers.
The NCC explained in the background section of the paper that TIRMS is a secure, regulatory-backed platform that helps prevent fraud stemming from churned, swapped, barred Mobile Station International Subscriber Directory Numbers in Nigeria.
It said this platform will provide a uniform approach for all sectors in relation to the integrity and utilisation of registered MSISDNs on the Nigerian Communications network.
In addition to the 14-day notice requirement, the Commission also proposed that operators must submit details of all churned numbers to TIRMS within seven days of completing the churn process, strengthening oversight and accountability in the system.
The consultation process, which the Commission said is in line with Section 58 of the Nigerian Communications Act 2003, will remain open for 21 days from the date of publication. Stakeholders are expected to submit their comments on or before March 20, 2026.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The founder of Interswitch, Mr Mitchell Elegbe, has been honoured for pioneering Nigeria’s digital payments revolution.
At a ceremony in Lagos on Sunday, March 1, 2026, he was bestowed with the 2025 Silverbird Special Achievement Award for shaping Africa’s financial ecosystem.
The Silverbird Special Achievement Award recognises individuals whose innovation, vision, and sustained impact have left an indelible mark on society.
Mr Elegbe described the award as both humbling and symbolic of a broader journey, saying, “This honour represents far more than a personal milestone. It reflects the courage of a team that believed, long before it was fashionable, that Nigeria and Africa could build world-class financial infrastructure.”
“When we started Interswitch, we were driven by a simple but powerful idea that technology could democratise access, unlock opportunity, and enable commerce at scale.
“This recognition by Silverbird strengthens our resolve to continue building systems that empower businesses, support governments, and expand inclusion across the continent,” he said when he received the accolade at the Silverbird Man of the Year Awards ceremony attended by several other dignitaries, whose leadership and contributions continue to shape national development and industry transformation.
In 2002, Mr Elegbe established Interswitch after he was inspired by a bold conviction that technology could fundamentally redefine how value moves within and across economies.
Under his leadership, the company has evolved into one of Africa’s foremost integrated payments and digital commerce companies, powering financial transactions for governments, banks, businesses, and millions of consumers.
Today, much of Nigeria’s electronic payments ecosystem traces its foundational architecture to the systems and rails established under his leadership.
“Mitchell’s journey is inseparable from Nigeria’s digital payments evolution. His foresight and resilience helped establish foundational infrastructure at a time when the ecosystem was still nascent.
“This recognition affirms not only his personal legacy, but the broader impact of Interswitch in enabling commerce and strengthening financial systems across Africa,” the Executive Vice President and Group Marketing and Communications for Interswitch, Ms Cherry Eromosele, commented.
-
Feature/OPED6 years agoDavos was Different this year
-
Travel/Tourism10 years ago
Lagos Seals Western Lodge Hotel In Ikorodu
-
Showbiz3 years agoEstranged Lover Releases Videos of Empress Njamah Bathing
-
Banking8 years agoSort Codes of GTBank Branches in Nigeria
-
Economy3 years agoSubsidy Removal: CNG at N130 Per Litre Cheaper Than Petrol—IPMAN
-
Banking3 years agoSort Codes of UBA Branches in Nigeria
-
Banking3 years agoFirst Bank Announces Planned Downtime
-
Sports3 years agoHighest Paid Nigerian Footballer – How Much Do Nigerian Footballers Earn