Urban Nigerians enjoy 40% faster internet than rural users — NCC

By Juliet Umeh

Urban residents in Nigeria enjoy faster internet than rural users, a new report by the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, has revealed, even as nationwide connectivity shows modest improvements.

The report, which analysed 377,135 network tests using geospatial mapping, found that urban download speeds average 20.5 megabits per second, Mbps, compared to 11 Mbps in rural areas, a gap of about 40 percent. Upload speeds were also uneven, with urban users recording 10.5 Mbps against 6.1 Mbps in rural locations.

Although rural speeds have improved from 8.5 Mbps earlier this year, the NCC said higher latency in rural areas continues to affect real-time services such as voice and video calls.

NCC said: “Urban areas account for just 5.2 percent of Nigeria’s landmass but 96.7 percent of total network activity.

“Rural communities, which cover over 93 percent of the country, experience much sparser usage and slower speeds.”

The report also highlighted that the choice of network operator can sometimes matter more than location.

It stated: “MTN’s average rural download speed of 15.8 Mbps was found to outperform Glo’s average urban speed of 9.5 Mbps, showing uneven performance across operators.

“Major highways, especially the Lagos–Abuja corridor, were identified as ‘digital corridors’ where network coverage is stronger.

“Rural towns along these routes often enjoy better connectivity than remote interior villages, reflecting how road and network infrastructure grow together.”

On technology trends, the report noted that “4G LTE remains Nigeria’s broadband backbone, delivering speeds of 10–20 Mbps in rural areas, while 5G networks, where available, offer speeds of up to 220 Mbps but are still largely confined to dense urban centres.

“Among operators, MTN delivered the most consistent nationwide performance, followed by Airtel. T2 recorded the highest median rural speed at 24.9 Mbps in select regions, while Glo maintained baseline connectivity of 9.5 Mbps across both urban and rural areas.”

The NCC said closing the persistent urban-rural gap will require targeted rural infrastructure upgrades, improved upload capacity, and stronger quality-of-service standards to support digital education, e-government and remote work.

“Improving network quality outside cities is akey to ensuring all Nigerians benefit from digital services,” the regulator added.

Vanguard News

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