The Federal Government has concluded arrangements to begin the deployment of about 3,700 telecommunications towers across underserved parts of Nigeria as part of efforts to expand access to mobile and internet services.
Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, disclosed this while outlining the government’s ongoing digital infrastructure projects.
According to the minister, deployment of the towers is expected to commence around October 2026 following the completion of the necessary financing and contractual arrangements.
The project is being implemented under the Nigeria Universal Communication Access Project (NUCAP), which is designed to extend reliable telecommunications services to communities that have historically remained outside the reach of commercial network operators.
More than 20 million Nigerians living in unserved and underserved locations are expected to benefit from the initiative.
The planned infrastructure will particularly target rural, riverine and other hard-to-reach communities where telecom companies have traditionally faced difficulties justifying investments because of low population density, difficult terrain or limited commercial returns.
Tijani explained that the government’s intervention is aimed at ensuring that geographical location does not prevent Nigerians from participating in the digital economy.
Improved connectivity is expected to give residents of previously underserved communities better access to online education, digital financial services, healthcare resources, government platforms, markets and employment opportunities.
The tower project forms part of a wider Federal Government strategy to improve Nigeria’s digital infrastructure.
Alongside the telecom towers, the government is also working on a planned 90,000-kilometre fibre-optic network that is expected to extend high-capacity broadband infrastructure across the country.
The fibre project is designed to reach all states, geopolitical zones, local government areas and wards, with the aim of improving the quality and availability of internet services nationwide.
Earlier plans had indicated that at least 1,000 of the approved 3,700 towers could be delivered in 2026, while the wider rollout would continue as implementation progresses.
The Federal Government has also received support for the rural connectivity project from China Industrial Bank, which has expressed interest in helping advance the NUCAP initiative.
The government expects the combined investment in telecommunications towers, fibre-optic infrastructure and other digital projects to reduce Nigeria’s connectivity gap and allow more citizens to benefit from the growing digital economy.
