Airtel Restates Commitment to Fibre, Radio Network Expansion to Boost 5G Penetration

•Plans $120m hyperscale data centre in Lagos 

Emma OkonjiandKayodeTokede

Airtel Nigeria, yesterday, restated its commitment to expand the laying of its fibre optic cable, its radio frequency, and spectrum, in order to boost 5G penetration in the country.

CEO of Airtel Nigeria, Dinesh Balsingh, who restated the commitment at a media roundtable in Lagos, promised that in the next couple of months, Nigerians would begin to experience increased 5G penetration on the Airtel network.

According to him, “Over the next few months, Nigerians will begin to see 5G network rollout much more rapidly.” 

He, however, explained that 5G network rollout would depend more on device and hardware rollout, even though it is a combination of device and network ecosystem.

“So, it’s an ecosystem of device and network coming together. So, neither the device nor the network alone can address 5G penetration in Nigeria.

“So, getting 5G devices into the market, and ensuring that consumers have 5G devices, is one very important aspect, because the network is available, and rolling out the network is something that we can even do much faster,” Balsingh said.

We are also trying to see whether, while the device ecosystem builds up, telcos can go ahead and deploy networks ahead of time. But we are actively talking to device manufacturers to achieve faster 5G rollout, Balsingh further said.  

Fielding questions from journalists, Balsingh disclosed that Airtel Nigeria would soon launch its Hyperscale Data Centre, which is still under construction in Eko Atlantic in Victoria Island, Lagos.

According to him, the need for a local data centre was critical as it would enhance faster internet connectivity with low latency.

“Also, the planned data centre, which is estimated to cost $120 million when completed, will ensure that sensitive national data is stored within Nigeria rather than relying on foreign servers.

“Again, our customers will benefit immensely from the investment in the area of internet speed and stronger network connections,” Balsingh said.

He further expressed Airtel’s commitment to drive network quality, customer satisfaction and innovation in the Nigerian telecommunications space.

The Director of Corporate Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Femi Adeniran, noted that no fewer than 25,000 Nigerians from about 80 local governments across the country were expected to undergo technology skills training in the next two weeks, as aprt of Airtel’s commitment to boost talent skills in Nigeria.

According to him, “In the next two weeks, we will be training 25,000 talents in our partnership programme with the federal government on 3MTT. It is going to be four months training where we will build tech talents.

“The technology training, an outcome of partnership arrangement between Airtel and the federal government on its 3 Million Technical Talents (3MTT) programme, is targeting young Nigerians to boost the tech talent base of the country,” Adeniran said.

Adeniran further explained that Nigerians would be trained on Digital Marketing, Project Management Software, Cloud Platforms Navigation, Data Analysis and Visualisation, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), CRM Management, Accounting Software, Graphics Design, and UX/UI Design, among others.

During a fireside chat conversation, Balsingh spoke about his leadership journey at Airtel Nigeria, the Nigerian telecoms landscape, policies driving the telecoms sector, network quality and customer satisfaction among others.