The Federal Government has revealed plans to deploy some 3,700 telecommunications towers across underserved areas, especially riverine communities, to expand mobile and Internet access.

Scheduled for the last quarter of the year, the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, disclosed this in Delta State and stressed that the government is intensifying efforts to close Nigeria’s digital connectivity gap.

The minister said a telecommunications tower was already being installed in Oboghoro, a suburb of Delta, assuring that the network would be formally flagged off in October.

According to him, the Federal Government plans to connect riverine communities across Nigeria to the digital economy before the middle of next year.

“These are communities, these are areas that are giving so much to our country, and we believe that there is still much more to give,” Tijani said.

The project is being implemented under the Nigeria Universal Communication Access Project (NUCAP), a major federal initiative designed to bring connectivity to more than 20 million Nigerians living in unserved and underserved communities.

According to Tijani, the Federal Government has completed the resource mobilisation and contractual processes required for the project, paving the way for physical deployment.

“The government plans to begin deploying about 3,700 telecommunications towers from October to improve mobile network coverage in underserved communities,” Tijani said.

The minister said the initiative is part of a broader strategy to strengthen Nigeria’s digital infrastructure and ensure that communities that have historically been excluded from commercial telecommunications investment can gain access to reliable connectivity.

The NUCAP rollout is expected to target communities where telecom operators have historically found it difficult to justify investment because of low population density, challenging terrain or limited commercial returns.

The government has argued that leaving these communities disconnected has consequences beyond telecommunications, limiting residents’ access to digital financial services, online education, healthcare, e-government platforms, markets and employment opportunities.

An estimated 21 million Nigerians across 4,834 communities, mostly in rural areas, lack access to basic mobile connectivity. The Minister stated this in February 2025.

In April 2025, the USPF reported that in 2013, the number of people living in unserved and underserved areas was 36.8 million and fell to 23 million by 2024.

Secretary of USPF, Yomi Arowosafe, said the 23 million unserved/underserved people are housed in over 3000 communities, predominantly in rural areas and lack basic mobile connectivity.

The unserved and underserved communities are largely concentrated in the northern part of Nigeria. These communities face the most acute digital isolation, leaving many citizens disconnected. Large swathes of these communities have experienced government-mandated telecommunications shutdowns to curb banditry.

Even when lifted, infrastructure remained damaged or unrepaired by telcos fearful of returning to the sites.

Largely on the 3700 new towers, Tijani framed the investment as infrastructure for economic participation rather than simply a telecommunications project.