Nigeria urban internet speeds rise to 20.5 Mbps

Nigeria’s average internet download speed in urban areas rose to 20.5 megabits per second in the fourth quarter of 2025, up from 19 Mbps in the previous quarter, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission.

However, average download speed in rural areas fell to 11 Mbps from 12.7 Mbps in the third quarter, the regulator said in its latest Industry Performance Report.

The figures highlight persistent connectivity gaps despite increased investment by telecom operators and regulatory efforts to improve nationwide coverage.

Presenting the report during a webinar with media and industry stakeholders, NCC Director of Technical Standards and Network Integrity Edoyemi Ogoh said the sector has made progress but still faces structural challenges.

Ogoh said the 20.5 Mbps figure reflects the median mobile download experience across all operators in urban centres. Meanwhile, he said rural performance showed modest improvement when compared with earlier in the year.

“Earlier in the year, the download speed in rural areas was about 8 to 9 Mbps. At the end of the year, we’re doing about 11, so there’s a slight improvement, though there was a decline when you compare Q3 strictly to Q4,” he said.

The Commission said the performance gap between urban and rural areas remains a major concern. While operators expanded networks nationwide, improvements occurred faster in cities.

Ogoh linked the trend partly to infrastructure deployment, noting that operators added more than 2,800 new sites in 2025. Most of the sites, he said, were built in urban areas to ease congestion.

Latency data also showed wide disparities. According to Ogoh, users in cities generally enjoy better latency and overall service quality as operators roll out additional capacity.

In urban areas, MTN, Airtel and Glo performed relatively, with MTN leading. In contrast, rural latency performance favoured MTN and Airtel, while Glo and T2 lagged.

“The challenge this provides is that when you are in rural areas, you basically have less experience-wise,” Ogoh said, citing video streaming and large uploads.

Separately, NCC Executive Vice Chairman Aminu Maida said the report reflects the regulator’s focus on data-driven oversight and service improvement.

He said more than $1 billion in industry investment during 2025 supported the deployment of over 2,850 new sites nationwide. As a result, operators expanded both coverage and capacity.