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2G still accounts for 36.54% of Nigeria’s mobile connections
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Lagos, Abuja 5G users frequently fall back to 4G
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36 operators in 20 countries shut down 2G, 3G networks
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GSMA puts global 5G coverage at 57% as regional gaps persist
Nigeria’s shift towards faster mobile networks is gaining ground, but access to better connectivity remains uneven, with users in major cities experiencing stronger network performance than those in rural communities.
Data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) showed that 5G accounted for 4.74 percent of mobile connections in July 2026, up from 3.17 percent a year earlier, while 4G remained the dominant newer-generation technology at 54.31 percent.
The growth in 5G connections, however, has not translated into consistent access to the technology across the country.
Findings from the NCC and Ookla’s Q2 2026 Network Performance and 5G Reality Report showed that network performance in urban centres such as Lagos, Rivers and the Federal Capital Territory was 30 percent to 40 percent stronger than in rural and northern communities.
According to the report, the difference means that users’ experience of mobile connectivity varies considerably by location, with urban areas moving towards more advanced digital services while some rural communities continue to rely on more basic connections.
The disparity reflects a broader challenge identified by the GSMA in its 2026 State of Mobile Internet Connectivity report, which found that although mobile broadband coverage is expanding globally, the pace and quality of network expansion vary significantly between regions.
The GSMA said 97 percent of the world’s population now lives within the footprint of a mobile broadband network, while 4G coverage has reached 94 percent globally. 5G coverage also expanded rapidly in 2025, reaching 57 percent of the global population, or about 4.7 billion people.
Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for more than half of global 4G coverage gains during the year, taking the proportion of the region’s population covered by 4G to 81 percent.
Despite those gains, the region still has the widest mobile broadband coverage gap globally, according to the GSMA. It said progress in closing the gap has slowed, with eight countries in the region recording coverage gaps of at least 15 percent, seven of which are classified as least developed countries.
Nigeria’s mobile market also remains in transition, with a substantial share of connections still running on older network technologies.
While the share of 5G connections rose from 3.17 percent in July 2025 to 4.74 percent in July 2026, 2G accounted for 36.54 percent of connections during the latest period, while 3G represented 4.42 percent.
The continued use of older technologies comes as mobile operators in several markets begin shutting down legacy networks to free up spectrum and reduce the cost of maintaining older infrastructure.
The GSMA said 36 operators across 20 countries had shut down both their 2G and 3G networks by the end of the first quarter of 2026. It said the migration was being driven by declining traffic on legacy networks, the financial burden of maintaining older infrastructure and the need to use spectrum more efficiently for newer technologies.
However, the organisation noted that the transition depends on enabling spectrum policies and the ability of operators to move consumers and businesses to 4G and 5G-compatible devices.
Nigeria’s challenge is not limited to the availability of 5G-capable devices either.
The NCC and Ookla report found that a growing number of smartphones capable of connecting to 5G are being used in major Nigerian cities, but actual access to 5G remains inconsistent.
In Lagos, active 5G usage among 5G-capable devices stood at about 46 percent, compared with approximately 53.1 percent in Abuja. The report attributed the gap partly to network density limitations, meaning that users with compatible devices can still fall back to 4G or legacy networks.
The quality of connectivity is particularly relevant as mobile networks become increasingly central to everyday activities, from digital payments and mobile banking to remote learning, video calls and streaming.
The NCC and Ookla report found that basic activities such as web browsing and video streaming generally performed well, while real-time services were more vulnerable to network instability, lag and interruptions.
This shifts the focus of Nigeria’s connectivity challenge from simply getting people online to ensuring that the connection is stable enough to support the services they increasingly depend on.
The GSMA’s findings reinforce that distinction at the global level. The organisation said 3.4 billion people worldwide still do not use mobile internet, even though more than 90 percent of them live in areas where mobile broadband coverage is already available.
For Nigeria, expanding network coverage will therefore remain only part of the challenge. Improving network quality in underserved areas, while ensuring that users can migrate from older technologies to 4G and 5G, will also be necessary to narrow the country’s connectivity divide.
The NCC and Ookla report identified spectrum refarming, targeted investment in underperforming states and rural corridors, infrastructure sharing and greater emphasis on network stability and response times as measures that could improve network performance.
As operators continue to move towards newer technologies, the distribution of those gains will be as important as the pace of the transition, particularly for communities where reliable mobile connectivity remains limited.
