Lagos – MTN Nigeria’s decision to spend ₦390.3 billion on network infrastructure in the first quarter of 2026 should have been a straightforward story about expansion. Instead, it has exposed a deeper challenge confronting Nigeria’s digital economy.
The investment, which excluded lease expenses, represented a 92.8 percent increase from the ₦202.4 billion invested in the same period of 2025 and ranks among the company’s largest quarterly capital spending programmes. The objective was clear: expand network capacity to support rapidly growing demand for voice, data and digital services across Africa’s largest telecom market.
Yet even as operators commit record amounts to improving connectivity, the biggest threats to network performance are increasingly coming from outside the telecom industry itself.
Speaking during an interview on Arise News, MTN Nigeria Chief Executive Officer Karl Toriola said the company continues to battle four major operational challenges: fibre optic cables damaged during construction activities, vandalism of telecom infrastructure, insecurity around network sites and persistent power outages.
His comments point to a structural shift in Nigeria’s telecommunications sector. The challenge is no longer simply building networks. It is keeping them running.
Record Investment Meets Record Operational Challenges
The issues identified by MTN mirror challenges affecting operators across the country.
Industry data show that telecom companies recorded 27,685 fibre cuts, more than 27,000 access denial incidents and 4,210 theft and vandalism cases in 2025 alone. Each incident resulted in service disruptions, delayed repairs and higher operating costs.
Fibre cuts have become particularly damaging. Road construction projects frequently sever underground fibre optic cables without prior coordination with operators, interrupting mobile and broadband services that businesses, financial institutions and government agencies rely on daily.
Access denial has also emerged as a persistent problem, with maintenance teams often prevented from reaching network facilities because of disputes involving host communities, local authorities or property owners. Every delay prolongs service outages and increases restoration costs.
Together, these incidents reveal that maintaining network resilience is becoming as capital-intensive as expanding network coverage.
The High Price of Power
Electricity remains another major constraint.
With public power supply unable to guarantee uninterrupted operations, telecom companies continue to rely heavily on diesel generators to keep their networks online.
Industry estimates indicate operators spent about ₦860 billion on diesel in 2025.
The Africa Finance Corporation’s State of Africa’s Infrastructure Report 2025 estimates that Nigerian telecom operators collectively consume more than 40 million litres of diesel every month, equivalent to over 480 million litres annually, with industry-wide fuel expenditure exceeding $350 million each year.
These figures illustrate that telecom operators have effectively become large-scale private power providers, absorbing costs that would ordinarily be borne by reliable public infrastructure.
Managing 18,000 Critical Assets
Toriola said MTN currently manages approximately 18,000 network sites nationwide.
Each site requires continuous electricity, backup power systems, security personnel, routine maintenance and rapid technical intervention whenever equipment is damaged or connectivity is interrupted.
As subscriber numbers and data consumption continue to rise, maintaining existing infrastructure is becoming an increasingly significant component of telecom investment.
In effect, operators are financing two networks simultaneously: one that expands digital connectivity and another that protects, powers and preserves it.
Has Nigeria’s Critical Infrastructure Policy Made a Difference?
The industry’s experience also raises questions about the implementation of Nigeria’s Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII) policy.
In 2024, the Federal Government designated telecommunications infrastructure as critical national infrastructure, introducing stronger legal protection against vandalism and sabotage while recognising telecom networks as essential to national security and economic development.
The designation was expected to reduce fibre cuts, theft and attacks on telecom facilities. However, the latest industry figures suggest that operational disruptions remain widespread.
That does not necessarily mean the policy has failed. Rather, it highlights that legal designation alone cannot eliminate operational risks. Effective enforcement, stronger collaboration between construction companies and telecom operators, improved security around network assets and greater public awareness remain essential if the policy is to achieve its intended impact.
For investors, the data point to another reality: future returns on telecom infrastructure will depend not only on subscriber growth but also on the industry’s ability to reduce avoidable operating costs.
Why It Matters Beyond Telecoms
The implications extend well beyond dropped calls. Telecommunications infrastructure now underpins digital banking, fintech, e-commerce, manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, education and public services.
Every damaged fibre cable can interrupt payment systems.
Every vandalised base station can disconnect businesses.
Every prolonged power outage raises operating costs that ultimately influence future investment decisions.
In an increasingly digital economy, network resilience has become an economic competitiveness issue rather than merely a telecom performance metric.
BuyerMetrics Analysis
MTN’s record ₦390.3 billion investment demonstrates that capital is still flowing into Nigeria’s digital infrastructure. The bigger question is whether enough is being done to protect that investment.
As operators spend more on diesel, security, repairs and emergency maintenance, a growing share of industry capital is being diverted from expanding coverage to defending existing infrastructure.
If fibre cuts, vandalism, access denial and unreliable power continue at current levels, operators may have to devote an even larger portion of future investment budgets to maintenance rather than expansion. That could slow the rollout of next-generation networks, increase the cost of connectivity and ultimately affect the pace of Nigeria’s digital transformation.
BuyerMetrics Bottom Line
MTN’s ₦390.3 billion first-quarter capital expenditure reinforces a broader trend we identified in our earlier analysis of the company’s market leadership: dominance in Nigeria’s telecom sector is increasingly being earned through continuous investment rather than inherited through market share. As network demand rises, operators that can consistently finance infrastructure expansion while absorbing the rising costs of diesel, fibre repairs, site security and maintenance will be better positioned to retain customers and grow revenue.
For Nigeria, however, the challenge extends beyond corporate investment. Unless fibre cuts, vandalism, unreliable electricity and access denials are substantially reduced, a growing share of industry capital will continue to be diverted from expanding digital connectivity to simply preserving existing networks. The next phase of competition in Nigeria’s telecom market may therefore be determined not by who builds the most infrastructure, but by who can operate it most efficiently in one of Africa’s most demanding operating environments.
