By Juliet Umeh
When 24-year-old Aisha Musa, a student at the University of Abuja, bought her usual monthly data bundle in February, she froze at the sight of the price tag. The N3,500 she once spent had jumped to over N5,000. For Aisha, whose online classes, research, and part-time fashion business depend on a steady internet, the hike felt like yet another door closing in an already difficult economy.
“It’s frustrating,” she said. “I can’t stop using data, but now I have to cut down on other things. Even making calls has become something you think twice about.”
Aisha’s frustration is shared by millions of Nigerians who, after years of relatively stable call and data prices, suddenly face steeper bills. The shock is the direct result of a landmark policy shift by the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC. In January 2025, the Commission allowed telecom operators to adjust tariffs after nearly a decade of frozen pricing, a decision that immediately saw some networks raise costs by as much as 50 percent.
For consumers, the new reality feels harsh. But for mobile network operators, long squeezed by rising diesel costs, foreign exchange pressures, and infrastructure expenses, the adjustment was a lifeline. For investors, it was a long-awaited signal that Nigeria’s telecom sector could once again deliver returns worth betting on.
Now, the nation is caught at a crossroads: Can the industry attract the $1 billion in fresh investments it promises while keeping connectivity affordable for everyday Nigerians like Aisha? Or will the price of sustainability come at the expense of digital inclusion?
The policy shift
For years, Nigeria’s telecom industry carried a paradox: one of the fastest-growing digital markets in Africa, yet one of the most constrained in pricing. Since the early 2010s, operators had been unable to review tariffs, even as their operating environment grew harsher. Inflation soared, the naira depreciated, and powering base stations consumed over 40 million litres of imported diesel every month. Still, call and data prices remained largely unchanged.
That changed in January 2025, when the NCC, led by Executive Vice Chairman Dr. Aminu Maida, returned to the roots of telecom regulation: the 2000 National Telecom Policy and the 2003 Communications Act. Both frameworks envisioned a market-driven industry where competition, not rigid regulation, would shape pricing.
“Balancing the interests of government, consumers, and operators has never been easy,” Maida admitted during a recent media parley.
“But we recognized that if tariffs stayed frozen while costs kept rising, the sector risked collapse. Our decision was about sustainability.”
Within weeks of the announcement, some operators adjusted tariffs by as much as 50 percent. Others, wary of losing customers to competition, made smaller increases. For the first time in almost a decade, market forces began to influence what Nigerians pay for connectivity.
The NCC insists the move is already yielding results. Industry projections suggest Nigeria could attract over $1 billion in infrastructure investment in 2025 alone, something the sector has not seen in recent years. That money, regulators argue, is critical to expanding fibre, consolidating 5G, and keeping pace with a world already testing 6G technology.
Operators’ perspective
For mobile network operators, the tariff review was less about profit and more about survival. Behind Nigeria’s buzzing digital economy lies an industry weighed down by costs most consumers never see.
Every month, operators collectively burn through more than 40 million litres of diesel to keep thousands of base stations running. With global oil price swings and Nigeria’s dependence on imported diesel until recently, energy alone has been a bleeding artery for telcos.
Foreign exchange adds another layer of pressure. Almost every piece of hardware needed to build or expand Nigeria’s networks, from fibre cables to radio equipment, is imported and priced in dollars. With the naira fluctuating sharply against the dollar, contracts for infrastructure, often indexed to foreign currency, become costlier by the day.
Security is yet another battle. Fibre cuts during road construction, vandalism of generators, and outright theft of diesel disrupt services and drain finances. “We spend millions monthly not just on maintaining networks, but on repairing damage from avoidable disruptions,” a senior executive at one leading operator noted privately.
Then there’s the future to think about. While much of Nigeria still depends on 2G and 3G, global telecoms players are already preparing for 6G. Consolidating 5G in Nigeria will require billions in new investment, yet operators argue they cannot attract such funding if tariffs remain artificially low.
In that sense, the NCC’s decision to free up pricing has been a lifeline. By allowing market forces to play a role, operators finally have room to recover costs, reinvest, and expand. “It’s a tough environment,” one industry insider explained, “but at least now there’s a path to sustainability.”
Consumers’ burden
For millions of Nigerians, the tariff adjustments landed like an unexpected tax on everyday life. Already squeezed by food inflation, fuel hikes, and a weakening naira, the higher costs of calls and data have added yet another weight to household budgets.
Students, small business owners, and low-income earners feel it the most. University students who rely on data for online classes, research, and side hustles now find themselves rationing megabytes the way their parents once rationed kerosene. For small businesses, particularly fintech startups, e-commerce vendors, and freelancers, higher connectivity costs threaten to eat into already thin margins.
“It’s not just data,” says Emmanuel, a Lagos-based tailor who markets his clothes through Instagram. “I pay more for fuel in my shop, more for materials, and now more for data. If I increase my prices, customers complain. If I don’t, I run at a loss.”
The danger, analysts warn, is digital exclusion. With Nigeria’s internet penetration still hovering under 50 percent, any sharp increase in telecom costs could push millions offline, widening the gap between those who can afford to stay connected and those left behind.
Consumer advocacy groups argue that connectivity should be treated as an essential service, not a luxury. “When you make data unaffordable, you’re not just raising costs,you’re cutting people off from opportunities,” says a representative of the Consumer Rights Advancement Network.
Still, some consumers acknowledge that operators face real challenges. The frustration, however, is that higher costs have not always translated into better service. Call drops, slow internet, and service disruptions remain common complaints, raising questions about whether Nigerians are paying more without seeing the promised improvements.
