Legit.ng journalist Zainab Iwayemi has 5-year-experience covering the Economy, Technology, and Capital Market.

In order to significantly improve network service quality throughout Nigeria, MTN Nigeria has announced plans to begin a massive capital expenditure (CAPEX) push in 2025, devoting close to N900 billion.

This substantial investment, which more than doubles the total CAPEX of about N440 billion spent in 2023 and 2024, demonstrates MTN's aggressive approach to resolving ongoing issues with service quality and meeting rising customer and regulatory demands.

In a recent interview on Arise TV, MTN Nigeria CEO Dr. Karl Toriola described this historic financial commitment and emphasized that the company's top priority for the year is to improve service quality.

He emphasized that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and security agencies are clearly aware of and expect better network quality.

One of the main goals of this increased CAPEX will be to add more capacity in cities like Lagos, particularly in Abuja, where many new buildings are being developed, creating a need for more sites due to coverage challenges.

In addition to these vital urban areas, the investment aims to strengthen network resilience and ensure power stability for its infrastructure across the country. A recurring issue in the Nigerian operating environment is the timely payment of operational essentials like diesel for generators, which is one way to proactively address site outages.

Toriola outlined a complete upgrade process, which involves making orders legally, opening letters of credit, and then having the equipment shipped in and installed. He stated that MTN will be acquiring more sites and laying fiber to base stations to create improved stability where necessary.

This investment suggests a long-term vision for network expansion and service improvement that goes beyond metropolitan areas, supporting MTN's broader objectives of increasing financial inclusion in underserved rural areas, even though the immediate CAPEX is focused on enhancing current service quality and capacity.

According to Toriola, subscribers should expect noticeable improvements in service quality, with a significant enhancement anticipated by the end of the second quarter or the beginning of the third quarter of 2025.

“This year is all going to be about capital expenditure on an aggressive basis to fix quality of service issues and meet both the regulators’ and the public’s expectations,” he affirmed, reiterating MTN’s steadfast focus on customer experience through substantial capital investment.

Legit.ng reported that telecom customers are requesting a probe into what they refer to as inexplicable data consumption through emails and direct messages sent to the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission and the Nigerian Communications Commission.

Operators maintain that there is no way to cut down on customers' data usage, claiming that user behavior—specifically, the transition from 3G and 4G to 5G and the rise in video streaming habits—is to blame for the rising consumption.

The dispute arose after the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy was encouraged by the Nigerian Senate to work with operators to evaluate data and internet-related service costs.

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Source: Legit.ng