Amid growing frustration over poor service, network outages, and sluggish internet speeds, MTN Nigeria’s Chief Technical Officer, Yahaya Ibrahim, has opened up on the internal battles the telecom giant is facing. In an exclusive interview with journalist Temitayo Jaiyeola, Ibrahim explained the root causes of MTN’s recent service woes — and what the company is doing to fix them.
Ibrahim revealed that MTN’s network remains remarkably resilient, despite daily attacks on its infrastructure. “We experience over 30 fibre cuts every single day,” he said. “Last year alone, more than 560 of our sites were vandalised. Sometimes, it’s construction work; sometimes, it’s deliberate sabotage. Even landlords can shut down sites without knowing the wider impact.”
Despite these challenges, MTN insists its entire network has never gone down at once. “We’ve built in a lot of redundancy. Yes, there’s degradation in some areas, but we’re rarely ever fully offline — not even in entire states,” he added.
One of the game-changers this year, according to him, is the gazetting of the Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) Bill by the Federal Government. The law formally recognises telecom infrastructure as essential, potentially opening the door for stronger enforcement against vandalism. But Ibrahim insists that before enforcement comes education.
“Many people simply don’t realise the damage they are doing,” he said. “We had a landlord in Abuja recently shut down a site and block diesel delivery. That single action affected the entire surrounding area.”
On the worsening quality of service experienced earlier this year, Ibrahim acknowledged the difficulties MTN faced before recent tariff adjustments. “We were literally borrowing money to power our sites and pay service providers,” he revealed. “Investment stalled during that time. Now, we’re investing again — N900 billion this year alone in infrastructure upgrades.”
Some areas like Karu and Kubwa in Abuja have already seen improvements in user experience and less network congestion. MTN expects noticeable improvements in major trouble spots by late Q3 or early Q4 2025.
The CTO says Nigeria’s data demand is just beginning. “We are nowhere near peak. Broadband penetration is still growing, smartphone usage is increasing, and secondary towns are becoming big data hubs. As immersive technologies like streaming, online gaming, and telemedicine grow, data consumption will skyrocket.”
To address rural coverage, Ibrahim disclosed that MTN plans to deploy over 300 new rural sites and upgrade 1,000 existing ones from 2G to 4G in 2025.
Another key strategy is infrastructure sharing. MTN recently signed a major agreement with Airtel for active network sharing. This goes beyond tower sharing and includes radio access gear. “It’s a win-win. Consumers will benefit from faster rollouts, wider coverage, and better reliability,” he said.
He also touched on the upcoming MTN data centre scheduled to go live this quarter. It’s part of a nationwide push to build more data hubs beyond Lagos, especially in places like Akwa Ibom where new undersea cables are landing. “The future of connectivity in Nigeria depends on distributed infrastructure. We need redundancy and faster data delivery.”
On emerging technology, Ibrahim expressed excitement about Artificial Intelligence (AI), which MTN is using to improve customer service, predict faults, and automate internal operations. “We’ve built Ziggy, our AI-powered chatbot, and it’s getting smarter. But our vision is bigger — we want to build local AI capabilities, not just import them.”
MTN has a formal AI strategy covering everything from HR to customer support and network planning. In the future, the telco may even build its own locally trained AI models.
As for 5G, Ibrahim admitted the roll-out hasn’t lived up to early hype, largely due to device affordability. “Most Nigerians can’t yet afford 5G phones. But we’re pushing 5G Fixed Wireless Access, and we already have 2,000+ 5G-enabled sites.”
On cybersecurity, the CTO confirmed that while MTN Nigeria hasn’t suffered major breaches, the company is on high alert. “We’ve invested heavily in a multi-layered defence system and work closely with MTN Group to monitor threats round the clock. Cybersecurity is never static — we constantly evolve.”
Reflecting on his 20+ years in the telecom sector, Ibrahim said the pace of change has been incredible. “From 2G to 5G, the journey has been fast. But we always ask, ‘Does Nigeria need this now?’ before launching any new tech. Local relevance is key.”
As MTN Nigeria navigates public criticism, regulatory pressure, and soaring demand, Ibrahim says the focus remains on building a reliable, adaptive network.
“Telecom is like running water now. When it stops, everything is affected — businesses, schools, hospitals. Our job is to keep the tap running, no matter the challenges.”
