The Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) has urged mobile network operators (MNOs), internet service providers (ISPs) and mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) to replace suspicion with collaboration, warning that Nigeria’s broadband market is “growing on one leg.”
The call came on Thursday, October 8, 2026, at the fourth ATCON Critical Conversation, held at the Inter-Continental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, on the theme “Building Healthy Synergy in Nigeria’s Telecom Ecosystem: MNOs, ISPs and MVNOs.”
ATCON President Mr Tony Izuagbe Emoekpere in his welcome address said broadband penetration reached 57.4 per cent in July, up from under 49 per cent eleven months earlier, or over 124 million subscriptions. Yet in February, mobile networks carried about 152.5 million of 153 million internet subscriptions, while ISPs and fixed lines combined had fewer than 700,000. Much of the MVNO promise, he said, “is still waiting to reach the customer.”
“Each one’s problem is another one’s product,” he said, proposing four principles: treating wholesale as a business, sharing infrastructure, competing on service rather than access, and settling disputes early within ATCON. He asked the Commission for predictability, consultation and continued advocacy on right of way and taxation.
The Chairman of the Nigeria Communications commission ( NCC) Governing Board, Chief Idris Ibikunle Olorunnimbe, in his flagship address, credited the visible achievment in the Nigeria’s Digital economy sector to capable officials appointed by President Bola Tinubu, including the honorale Minister of communications, innovation and digital economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, the NCC Executive Vice Chairman Dr Aminu Maida and many more, and commended ATCON for its continous contructive engagement which is essential to supporting investment, upholding fair competition and protecting consumers. He stressed that the partnerships operators build will turn talent into successful businesses and dependable services on the journey to a trillion-dollar economy. The day’s theme, he added, is a question of fairness and of expanding opportunity for Nigerians. He pledged that the Commission would listen to the association.
The panelists, Mr Tony Emoekpere, President ATCON, Mr Ayotunde Coker, CEO of Open Access Data Centre, Engr Olusola Teniola, Director of Business Initiatives at IPNX, and Mary Akin-Adesokan, COO of Lebara Nigeria, led the discussion as Chief Olorinimbe gave a listening ear, while participating members added their voices to the industry’s concerns. Olorunnimbe noted them all and promised to look into them.
He urged members to compile their concerns as one association, saying a collective submission carries more weight than operators working in silos. Emoekpere subsequently set up a committee with 90 days to gather all concerns and suggestions for submission to the NCC for action.
