By CHIDIEBERE NWANKWO
Nigeria’s telecommunications regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has released a draft document highlighting its Spectrum roadmap for the sector for the years 2025 – 2030.
The draft document, which is for further consultation with Stakeholders, highlighted the rationale for the Roadmap.
“Since deregulation, Nigeria has allocated approximately 12.5 GHz of spectrum (across terrestrial and satellite bands), enabling over $75 billion in telecom infrastructure investment. These investments have spurred growth far beyond the sector—supporting financial inclusion, e-commerce, telemedicine, e-government services, and broader digital transformation.
Despite these achievements, the absence of a cohesive national Spectrum Roadmap has left gaps in spectrum holdings and effective long-term planning. With digital technologies now central to every sector—agriculture, health, education, manufacturing, logistics, and trade—a forward-looking spectrum management plan is imperative. The Roadmap is developed to build on the current foundation while charting a course to meet future data and broadband demands in line with Nigeria’s 2030 ambition for universal connectivity, inclusive digital innovation, and a globally competitive digital economy.”
Explaining the resource, the NCC said: “Spectrum—the range of invisible radio frequencies (RF) that carry wireless signals—is the foundation of modern digital infrastructure. It enables everything from mobile voice and data services to broadband internet, satellite communications, television broadcasting, Wi-Fi, and emerging innovations like 5G, IoT, and smart city applications. As a finite national resource, spectrum must be managed strategically to maximize its value for public and economic good.”
It noted that over the past two decades, Nigeria has made commendable strides in digital connectivity. As of Q4 2024, the Information and Communications sector contributed an average of 17.68% to GDP (with telecommunications alone accounting for 14.4%) and recorded a growth rate of 7.40% in Q1, 2025, ranking just behind agriculture and trade. Teledensity, it said, exceeded 79% and broadband penetration stood at 48.78% as of June 2025—reflecting sustained growth even after the enforcement of the NIN-SIM linkage policy, which led to the disconnection of millions of lines not linked to the National Identification Number (NIN) in compliance with federal directives. This outcome highlights the resilience of the sector and underscores spectrum’s centrality to economic growth, digital innovation, and national competitiveness.
As digital demand accelerates and new technologies emerge, the current pace of progress must be matched with a modern, inclusive, and forward-looking spectrum management approach. The Nigeria Spectrum Roadmap 2025–2030 charts this course—ensuring that spectrum is allocated, assigned, and utilized to deliver broad national impact, in alignment with the National Broadband Plan (NBP) and the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS).
The strategy is structured around four core pillars that reflect Nigeria’s digital ambitions: bridging the digital divide, enabling market-driven investment, enhancing quality of experience, and promoting innovation and future readiness. These pillars serve as the backbone of the roadmap, guiding spectrum policy decisions to ensure that no community is left behind, private investment is encouraged, service quality is prioritised and Nigeria remains competitive in adopting future technologies.
To operationalise these pillars, the roadmap outlines a coordinated national approach to refarm and release critical spectrum bands, strengthen cross-sectoral collaboration, and institutionalize data-driven decision-making through improved planning, monitoring, and stakeholder engagement. Tools and frameworks to promote spectrum sharing, resilience, and regulatory agility are also embedded into the roadmap to enhance its responsiveness to evolving market needs and global best practices while ensuring spectrum delivers maximum socio-economic benefit to the entire country.
The Commission further noted that by 2030, it envisions a Nigeria where spectrum has:
- Enabled universal, high-speed broadband access across urban and rural areas;
- Powered inclusive digital innovation across health, education, agriculture, and commerce;
- Strengthened national security, public safety, and emergency communications;
- Positioned Nigeria as a top-tier digital economy in Africa and a model for spectrum governance globally.
“The roadmap is thus a national commitment to harness the power of spectrum for inclusive growth, digital empowerment, and long-term prosperity for all Nigerians,” it stated.
Maximising the societal value of spectrum, the NCC said, means ensuring that its allocation and utilisation consistently delivers value in ways that promote innovation, investment, and inclusion. To achieve this feat, a governance framework must be in place that empowers the necessary regulatory entities to legally manage spectrum.
In the case of Nigeria, the National Frequency Management Council (NFMC) is the apex entity responsible for RF spectrum management and oversees all planning, coordination and bulk trans-sectoral allocation of radio spectrum to government entities, namely the Commission, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy (MCI&DE), Aviation and Aerospace Development, Transport, Science, Technology and Innovation as well as Security Services. The NFMC is chaired by the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy and consists of high-level representatives of the above listed ministries and agencies.
The roles of the NFMC, the Commission, the FMCI&DE and NBC in the management of frequency spectrum in Nigeria are clearly delineated and specified. Broadly, the NCC oversees all frequency spectrum to commercial providers, users of telecommunications equipment and services; NBC oversees all frequency spectrum for public and private broadcasting organisations; and the Ministry (as Chair of the NFMC) oversees frequency spectrum for Government bodies.
The Nigerian Communications Act, 2003 (NCA 2003) confers on the Commission, the sole and exclusive powers to license and manage frequency spectrum for the telecommunications sector.
This public stakeholder consultation document is for information purposes only about the preliminary views of the Commission on the Spectrum subject. “The consultation is not intended to form any part of the basis of any investment, technical, financial or legal advice.
All views expressed in this consultation paper are subject to updating, modification and amendment at any time as deemed necessary by the Commission,” NCC warns.
A statement signed by Head, Public Affairs Department, NCC, Nnenna Ukoha notes that all submissions and inquiries regarding the Draft Spectrum Roadmap, should be forwarded to ygibrahim@ncc.gov.ng, yabdulkadir@ncc.gov.ng and jdavid@ncc.gov.ng no later than Friday, January 16, 2025.
