Airtel Nigeria deploys 1,000 additional 5G sites

The Chief Executive Officer of Airtel Nigeria, Dinesh Balsingh, said on Friday that it added more than 1,000 fifth-generation network sites in 2026 as the telco expands its infrastructure to meet growing demand for faster mobile connectivity and improve service quality across the country.

The executive made the disclosure at the launch of Airtel Open Network, a new feature on the My Airtel Africa app that gives subscribers greater visibility into network performance and a digital channel to report service issues.

The expansion forms part of the company’s broader network investment programme, which has taken its total number of network sites beyond 17,000, following the addition of more than 1,050 sites in the last financial year.

The deployment comes as telecommunications operators face increasing pressure to improve network capacity and coverage amid rising demand for mobile data, digital financial services and other internet-dependent activities.

Balsingh said the company’s infrastructure investments were aimed at extending connectivity and improving the experience of customers who rely on mobile networks for business transactions, education, communication and other daily activities.

“During the last financial year, Airtel Nigeria added more than 1,050 new sites and has surpassed 17,000 sites nationwide. This year, 2026 alone, Airtel has added more than 1,000 5G sites to date, expanding access to high-speed connectivity across the country,” he said.

Alongside network expansion, the operator is introducing digital tools to improve how it identifies and responds to service complaints.

The newly launched Open Network feature allows subscribers to engage with information about their network experience and submit feedback that could help the company’s technical teams identify the location and nature of connectivity problems.

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Balsingh noted that conventional complaint channels, including call centres and physical customer service outlets, sometimes made it difficult to obtain sufficiently precise information about network challenges.

He explained that the digital platform would provide more detailed feedback, helping engineers investigate reported problems and direct attention to areas where improvements were needed.

However, he cautioned that the platform would not automatically repair network faults or eliminate service disruptions, describing it instead as an additional channel for gathering information and improving the company’s response.

Airtel is also expanding its physical customer service network, with more than 225 premium experience stores, and plans to increase the number to 500. It operates over 9,000 exclusive shops across local government areas and has more than 73,000 retail agents nationwide.

The launch builds on the company’s deployment of an artificial intelligence-powered spam alert service in March 2025. Balsingh said the service flagged more than 9.6 million suspected spam messages within its first two months.