About 55.4 per cent of Lagos State remains without 5G coverage despite steady improvements in deployment, according to new data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
The disclosure is contained in the NCC’s Industry Performance Report for Q4 2025, released recently, which shows that more than half of Africa’s largest city by population is yet to benefit from 5G services.
The report comes nearly three years after MTN launched Nigeria’s first 5G network, followed by Airtel and Mafab Communications, highlighting persistent coverage gaps even in major urban centres such as Lagos and Abuja.
Presenting the report, Edoyemi Ogoh, Director of Technical Standards and Network Integrity at the NCC, said that while 5G user experience has largely met expectations where the service is available, limited network footprint continues to constrain its overall impact. “In Lagos, the coverage gap is about 55.4 per cent, meaning there is no 5G coverage in those areas, compared to 47.4 per cent in Abuja,” Ogoh said.
Coverage Gap Narrowing
Despite the wide gap, the NCC data shows measurable progress.
In Q3 2025, Lagos recorded a 70.9 per cent 5G coverage gap. The improvement to 55.4 per cent in Q4 indicates that operators expanded coverage during the period, although large areas remain underserved.
Abuja recorded similar progress, with its coverage gap improving from 65.6 per cent in Q3 to 47.4 per cent in Q4 2025.
According to the NCC, this trend suggests that 5G deployment is advancing, but at a pace that remains insufficient to deliver widespread impact.
4G Still Carries Nigeria’s Data Traffic
The report shows that 4G remains the backbone of Nigeria’s data ecosystem, especially in areas where 5G is weak or unavailable.
Ogoh attributed improvements in 4G performance to a stronger transmission backbone and the impact of the spectrum trading framework, which has provided operators with additional capacity to manage rising data traffic.
The NCC also reported improvements in mobile coverage along road networks, noting that 326 kilometres of previously uncovered roads are now connected.
However, service quality on these roads is still dominated by 4G, which accounts for 97 per cent of locations with very good mobile service quality.
4G Overtakes 2G
While 2G accounted for 57.84 per cent of all connections in December 2023, increased investment in 4G infrastructure has shifted usage patterns.
As of November 2025, 51.99 per cent of Nigeria’s 177 million active connections were on 4G, while:
- 5G accounted for 3.60 per cent
- 3G stood at 6.13 per cent
- 2G declined to 38.29 per cent, though it remains the second most-used technology
Data Demand Set to More Than Double
To address rising demand, the NCC recently unveiled a new spectrum roadmap aimed at expanding broadband capacity and attracting fresh investment.
According to GSMA Intelligence projections cited by the Commission, average mobile data usage per connection in Nigeria is expected to rise from 5.8GB per month in 2025 to 12.0GB by 2030.
Over the same period, active mobile subscriptions are projected to grow from 171 million to about 220 million, pushing total national mobile data traffic from 11.9 exabytes to 31.7 exabytes by 2030.
