Elegbede Abiodun
Nigeria’s telecommunications industry, despite attracting over $75 billion in investments according to the Nigerian Communications Commission (as reported in the Vanguard Newspaper), continues to grapple with a significant infrastructure deficit. Millions of Nigerians, particularly in rural, sparsely populated, and insecurity-prone areas, remain without reliable connectivity. Key challenges include frequent fibre cuts, inadequate rural infrastructure, unstable power supply that forces reliance on costly diesel generators, and multiple layers of taxation and regulatory charges.
Against this backdrop, Glo Nigeria has intensified efforts to strengthen and expand its network infrastructure nationwide, with a focus on improving service quality and customer experience across both voice and data services.
As part of its strategic upgrades, the company expanded its spectrum holdings in 2025, adding capacity in the 1800MHz band and extending usage across the 1800MHz and 2600MHz frequencies nationwide. This spectrum refarming initiative has significantly improved data performance, enabling faster speeds, smoother video streaming, and more stable live-streaming experiences for users.
To further enhance network efficiency, Glo deployed carrier aggregation technology, allowing compatible devices to combine multiple frequency bands for improved data throughput and faster internet speeds.
The telecom operator has also embarked on a major rollout of approximately 3,000 additional 4G LTE base stations operating on the 2600MHz band, aimed at boosting network capacity and improving coverage in high-demand areas.
In parallel, the company is expanding its fibre infrastructure through a large-scale fibre-to-site deployment covering over 2,000 kilometres. This initiative is designed to strengthen transmission capacity, support LTE expansion, and improve overall network reliability. Glo is also undertaking extensive fibre reconstruction works to mitigate recurring disruptions caused by road construction and infrastructure damage along major corridors.
To improve long-term resilience, the company is building new fibre routes and reinforcing its national backbone infrastructure to ensure greater redundancy and reduce service interruptions.
Industry analysts note that these upgrades are expected to significantly enhance network performance, delivering higher data speeds, lower latency, improved indoor and outdoor coverage, and a more stable user experience, particularly in urban centres and underserved regions. They also observe that Glo’s shift toward expanded data infrastructure positions it more strongly within Nigeria’s broader digital economy, including cloud and digital services.
The modernisation programme, which gained momentum between 2025 and 2026, also includes efforts to address congestion in high-traffic locations such as markets and academic institutions. Additionally, Glo is transitioning parts of its operations toward greener energy solutions by deploying hybrid power systems across multiple sites to reduce dependence on diesel generators, lower operational costs, and improve network uptime.
With these ongoing investments, analysts suggest that Glo Nigeria is reinforcing its position as a major player in the country’s telecom sector, while contributing to efforts aimed at narrowing Nigeria’s persistent digital divide.
