For more than 135 million rural Africans, lack of Internet access is increasingly becoming a barrier to education, healthcare and economic opportunity, as communities outside major cities remain underserved by conventional network infrastructure.

A former Executive Vice-Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), Dr Bashir Gwandu, has therefore called for the allocation of the 600MHz spectrum for mobile services, arguing that its superior propagation characteristics could make rural broadband deployment more affordable and extensive.

Gwandu, who spoke during a keynote address at the 2026 Spectrum Management Conference in Tunis, Tunisia, ahead of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-27) in Shanghai, China, said allocating the 600MHz band would give African governments and operators a relatively fast and cost-effective pathway to expanding digital inclusion.

He said the low-frequency band could travel farther and penetrate obstacles more effectively than higher-frequency spectrum, enabling a single tower to cover a wider area and potentially reducing the cost of network deployment in sparsely populated communities.

Gwandu urged African countries to push for the allocation and identification of the 600MHz band for International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT), arguing that the frequency would significantly improve affordable 4G and 5G connectivity in rural areas.

The yearly Spectrum Management Conference brings together regulators, policymakers, operators and industry stakeholders from Africa and beyond to discuss efficient spectrum utilisation and the advancement of telecommunications.

Gwandu, now an independent telecommunications expert, said regulators and spectrum managers held their positions in trust for the public and must ensure that underserved rural communities were not left behind in the digital era.

According to him, allocating the 600MHz frequency band to mobile services would enable operators to provide wider coverage at lower deployment costs.

He noted that the band could also be aggregated with other sub-1GHz spectrum resources, including the 700MHz, 800MHz and 900MHz bands, to enhance network capacity and user experience.

Citing the GSMA Spectrum and Rural Connectivity Report, Gwandu said rural users spent nearly twice as much time connected to low-band spectrum as urban users.

He highlighted findings showing that an additional 50MHz of sub-1GHz spectrum was associated with a seven-percentage-point increase in 4G coverage and an 11-percentage-point increase in 5G coverage.

He added that, since the 700MHz band currently served as the primary low-band spectrum for 5G deployment in many countries, the 600MHz band could become an important additional resource for expanding rural coverage and improving service quality.

Gwandu warned that more than 135 million people in rural Africa remained unconnected, stressing that without sufficient low-band spectrum, many countries would continue to struggle to bridge the digital divide.

The telecommunications expert stressed that spectrum managers had a responsibility to maximise the socioeconomic value of spectrum resources for the benefit of all citizens, particularly those in underserved communities.

He urged policymakers to align spectrum policy with broader national development objectives, including digital inclusion, education, local content creation, cultural participation and economic empowerment.

Gwandu also encouraged regulators and policymakers to make bold decisions in pursuit of the public good rather than avoid difficult policy choices.

Highlighting the strategic significance of the UHF spectrum range, he said low-band frequencies below 1GHz remained critical to addressing connectivity challenges across Africa because of their superior propagation characteristics, which allowed signals to travel longer distances and penetrate buildings more effectively.