Nigerian telecom operators are stepping up investment to meet the growing demand for high-speed connectivity. While some are capitalizing on the 4G, others, like MTN and Airtel, are banking on the 5G.  

Nigerian telecoms operator Globacom (Glo) announced last week that it has started rolling out its fourth-generation Long Term Evolution Advanced (4G-LTE Advanced) mobile network in Nigeria. The company aims to strengthen its data services to meet the ever-increasing demand for high-speed connectivity from Nigerian telecom consumers.

To achieve this technological leap, Glo plans to deploy an additional 4,000 LTE Advanced sites in Nigeria's main cities by 2023.  The company will leverage the additional 4G spectrum it recently acquired in the 2.6 GHz band.

The launch of Globacom's 4G-LTE may be part of the company's drive to remain competitive in a Nigerian telecoms market with ever-strengthening competition. MTN Nigeria and Mafab Communications already provide fifth-generation (5G) mobile services in the country. Airtel Nigeria acquired its 5G license last January and is preparing to launch its ultra-broadband services. In addition, 9mobile is modernizing its services and, for months now, it is extending its network.  

In this competitive context, 4G-LTE Advanced should enable Globacom to retain its customers and attract new ones to improve its market share. According to the latest data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the company controls 27.28% of the national mobile telephony subscriber base. Competitors 9mobile, Airtel and MTN have market shares of 6%, 27.01%, and 39.70% respectively.

“Our subscribers today already enjoy superfast music, video, and movie content downloads. They are also streaming content on their phones and other devices. But the new Glo 4G LTE Advanced network offers subscribers a significantly improved experience. The video and voice quality in video calls on different applications like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Viber, etc is a lot clearer while the picture quality is crispier, and the transmission is faster,” the operator says. 

Isaac K. Kassouwi