Despite steady improvements in deployment, about 55.4% of Lagos State, Nigeria’s commercial capital, remained without any 5G mobile network coverage as of the fourth quarter of 2025.
This data, revealed by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in its latest industry report, highlights a significant connectivity gap even in major urban centers, with Abuja recording a 47.4% coverage deficit during the same period.
Okay News reports that the figures show progress from the previous quarter when Lagos had a 70.9% coverage gap and Abuja 65.6%, indicating network expansion is ongoing but incomplete three years after the technology’s initial launch by operators like MTN and Airtel.
The NCC’s Director of Technical Standards noted that where 5G is available, user experience meets expectations with significantly better speeds, though its overall impact remains limited by its geographic footprint.
The report underscores that 4G technology continues to carry the vast majority of Nigeria’s data load, serving as the backbone for everyday internet use and accounting for 51.99% of active connections as of November 2025.
In contrast, 5G connections represented only 3.60%, with the older 2G network still holding 38.29% of the market share, highlighting the multi-generational nature of the country’s telecoms landscape.
The NCC has unveiled a new spectrum roadmap to address the growing demand, with projections showing average mobile data usage per connection could double from 5.8 gigabytes per month in 2025 to 12 gigabytes by 2030.
This anticipated surge, alongside a rise in subscriptions, is expected to push national data traffic from 11.9 exabytes to 31.7 exabytes annually, driving the need for accelerated infrastructure investment and coverage expansion.
