By Onu Okorie

Twenty-five years after the arrival of Global System for Mobile Communications GSM transformed Nigeria’s telecommunications landscape, the Nigerian Communications Commission NCC has shifted attention from basic connectivity to the quality, affordability and economic value of digital access.
The Commission said the next phase of Nigeria’s telecommunications development must be driven by wider broadband penetration, affordable connectivity, improved quality of service and greater digital inclusion, as emerging technologies reshape the economy.
The Executive Vice-Chairman of the NCC, Dr Aminu Maida, stated this at the 12th edition of the eWorld Forum in Lagos, organised to mark 25 years of GSM in Nigeria. Maida, who was represented by Mojisola Saraki, said the GSM revolution had fundamentally altered the country’s communications system, moving telephone services from a relatively restricted and expensive facility to an everyday tool used by millions of Nigerians.
He, however, said the significance of the milestone should extend beyond celebrating the past to addressing the infrastructure, affordability and human-capacity challenges that could determine the next phase of the digital economy.
According to him, telecommunications has evolved from voice calls and SMS into a critical platform supporting banking, commerce, education, entertainment, entrepreneurship and other economic activities. The industry has also created an expanding ecosystem involving telecom operators, infrastructure providers, fintech companies, technology firms, software developers and digital platforms.
Maida said the policy focus must now move beyond simply connecting Nigerians to ensuring that connectivity translates into access to economic and social opportunities. He identified investment in telecommunications infrastructure, broadband expansion, affordability, quality of service, cybersecurity and digital inclusion as key priorities for the sector.
The NCC chief executive also pointed to 5G, artificial intelligence, cloud computing and the Internet of Things as technologies that could further reshape Nigeria’s digital economy. He said the challenge was to ensure that Nigerians were positioned to benefit from these technologies through access to education, employment, innovation, entrepreneurship and broader economic participation.
The evolution of the sector was highlighted by Olaitan Ogunbiyi, Director of Operations at IHS, who said telecommunications had become embedded in virtually every segment of the Nigerian economy. Ogunbiyi said Nigeria began its GSM journey with 2G licences before the introduction of 3G around 2006, which significantly improved internet speeds. The industry subsequently entered the 4G era around 2016, alongside increasing deployment of fibre-optic infrastructure. He noted that the pace of technological development had accelerated, with significant changes occurring roughly every eight to 10 years. Ogunbiyi identified healthcare, transportation, manufacturing and technology among the sectors whose operations have been significantly affected by the evolution of telecommunications. ICT expert Chris Uwaje said the next phase of the digital revolution must also focus on the people who create and consume digital content. Uwaje argued that telecommunications had given Nigerians a stronger voice and democratised human interaction, but stressed that digital infrastructure needed to be matched by investment in human capacity.
He called for the development of innovative and resilient minds capable of creating and communicating truthful and authentic information. The intervention highlights a growing dimension of Nigeria’s digital challenge: access to networks alone does not automatically translate into meaningful digital participation.
The next phase of the sector will place greater emphasis on how regulation balances rapid technological innovation with consumer protection, affordability, cybersecurity, infrastructure investment and universal access. As Nigeria moves deeper into 5G, cloud computing, AI and Internet of Things applications, the regulator faces the task of ensuring that technological advancement does not widen the digital divide between connected and underserved populations. The 25-year GSM milestone therefore marks not only the maturation of Nigeria’s mobile telecommunications industry, but also a transition towards a broader policy question: how to convert widespread connectivity into measurable improvements in productivity, inclusion and economic participation.