Market News

MTN Nigeria has committed to passing fibre connectivity to eight million homes across the country by 2028, in what would represent a 160-fold expansion from its current base of around 50,000 connected users.

Tobe Okigbo, Chief Corporate Services and Sustainability Officer, disclosed the target at an MTN Media Innovation Programme alumni session.

He said the company was making significant investments in home fi-bre infrastructure despite challenges including regulatory approvals, physical deployment requirements, and the long cost-recovery timelines.

Egerton Idehen, MTN Nigeria’s Chief Broadband Officer, said the rollout is centred on the FibreX platform, which launched in April 2025 as a rebrand and expansion of the telco’s earlier fibre broadband service. “Our goal is clear, between 2026 and 2028, we want FibreX to reach over 8 million homes across Nigeria,” Idehen said.

“When we talk about homes, we mean clusters, families, small businesses, and communities. This is about empowering people to connect and thrive in the digital economy,” he added.

Nigeria’s overall broadband penetration reached 53.07 per cent by January 2026, up from 45.61 per cent a year earlier, but the bulk of that growth remains driven by mobile connectivity rather than fixed infrastructure.

MTN’s fibre push is designed to shift that balance, targeting households and small businesses that require stable, high-capacity broadband for data-heavy workloads.

MTN’s strategy focuses on fibre-to-the-home and fibre-to-the-business networks, and the company is partnering with infrastructure providers, state governments, and local contractors to ensure sustainable rollout while addressing challenges such as vandalism, right-of-way constraints, and network damage from road construction.

The initiative aligns with Nigeria’s National Broadband Plan, which targets 70 per cent broadband penetration and aims to expand the country’s total fibre network from 35,000 km to 125,000 km.