Tag: Airtel

Airtel Nigeria has reaffirmed its long-term commitment to strengthening Nigeria’s digital infrastructure and data access to bridge gaps in connectivity and unlock new opportunities in the country.

The company restated this commitment during a recent high-level inspection tour of the Nxtra Data Centre that is being developed through Nxtra by Airtel Africa at Eko Atlantic, Lagos, the highly rated smart city with ambition to become the Data Centre hub of Nigeria. The inspection tour was led by the Chief Executive Officer of Airtel Nigeria, Dinesh Balsingh and the Chief Executive Officer of Nxtra by Airtel Africa, Yashnath Issur, with the esteemed chairman of Eko Atlantic Mr. Gabbi Massoud, the CEO of the lead Engineering firm Design Group Limited, Mr. Bayo Odunlami and tech journalists.

The Nxtra Data Centre went through a stringent design validation process and cleared the approval to proceed construction from Eko Atlantic.

Commenting on the developments, Mr Issur said the site visit was a milestone marker and an indication of the company’s commitment to delivering the world-class digital facility on time and ensuring that, ultimately, the investments deliver reliable, secure, world-class services for Nigeria and the rest of the continent.

“This Nxtra Data Centre in Lagos represents a critical part of our long-term vision for Nigeria’s digital ecosystem. Today’s visit allows us to review progress, engage our stakeholders, and ensure that our infrastructure investments continue to meet global standards and local needs. This data centre will deliver critical high multi megawatt capacity in line with hyperscale customers and enable a high density environment. We are putting the infra to bring the cloud to Nigeria,” he said.

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The data centre, set to be the largest in Nigeria, is being established to deliver hyperscale and edge facilities across key African markets. With a load of 38 Megawatts, the Lagos facility is expected to serve as a major hub for data hosting, cloud services, content distribution, artificial intelligence, and enterprise solutions in West Africa.

In his remarks, Mr Balsingh said the data centre was progressing steadily towards the previously announced 2028 go live date.

“Since the announcement of this project, our focus has been on building a world-class facility that supports Africa’s digital transformation agenda. We are encouraged by the progress recorded so far and remain committed to delivering a secure, energy-efficient, and future-ready data centre for Nigeria,” he said.

During the tour, stakeholders were ushered through key sections of the site, including piling zones, where required structural requirements have been tested. Technical teams provided briefings on infrastructure design, security architecture, redundancy systems, and sustainability measures being implemented to ensure reliability and operational excellence.

Strategically located close to major fibre routes and undersea cable landing stations, the Eko Atlantic data centre is designed to enhance Nigeria’s data sovereignty, reduce latency, and improve access to reliable digital services for private and enterprise customers, significantly boosting the country’s data hosting capacity and supporting emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and cloud computing.

Mr. Massoud noted that the inspection tour underscored the city’s dedication to infrastructure of global relevance.

“Eko Atlantic as a city with high quality infrastructure will contribute positively to boost the economy of Nigeria and is a perfect place for the development of the digital infrastructure of Nigeria. The Nxtra data centre reflects the calibre of projects we seek to attract — long-term, technology-driven investments built to the highest global standards. Today’s visit affirms the rigour of the planning and execution process by Nxtra, and the commitment of Eko Atlantic to facilitate and promote Nigeria’s evolving digital ecosystem,” he said.

Through this ongoing investment, Airtel Nigeria and Nxtra continue to demonstrate their commitment to building infrastructure that enables innovation, supports economic development, and accelerates Nigeria’s digital transformation.

Nxtra by Airtel is developing a network of hyperscale data centres across the continent. Besides Lagos, construction of a new data centre has also commenced in Nairobi, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Airtel Africa said sealing a deal with SpaceX to introduce Starlink Direct-to-Cell satellite connectivity across all its 14 markets that serve 174 million customers in one of its strategies to boost rural connectivity in the country next year.

Airtel Africa MD and Chief Executive Officer Sunil Taldar said the Direct-to-Cell technology deployment complements the terrestrial infrastructure and would reach areas where deploying terrestrial network solutions are challenging.

 “Airtel Africa remains committed to delivering great experience to our customers by improving access to reliable and contiguous mobile connectivity solutions. Starlink’s Direct-to-Cell technology complements the terrestrial infrastructure and even reaches areas where deploying terrestrial network solutions are challenging. We are very excited about the collaboration with Starlink, which will establish a new standard for service availability across all our 14 markets,” he said.

Also speaking on the development, Starlink Vice President of Sales, Stephanie Bednarek said the deal will help bridge the access gap in the country and 13 others where the telco has its footprints.

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“For the first time, people across Africa will stay connected in remote areas where terrestrial coverage cannot reach, and we’re so thrilled that Starlink Direct to Cell can power this life-changing service. Through this agreement with Airtel Africa, we’ll also deliver our next-generation technology to offer high-speed broadband connectivity, which will offer faster access to many essential services,” she said.

Through this partnership, Airtel Africa customers with compatible smartphones in regions without terrestrial coverage can have network connectivity through Starlink, which is the world’s largest 4G connectivity provider (by geographic reach).

The satellite-to-mobile service will begin in 2026 with data for select applications and text messaging. This agreement also includes support for Starlink’s first broadband Direct to Cell system, with next-generation satellites that will be capable of providing high-speed connectivity to smartphones with 20x improved data speed. The rollout will proceed in line with country-specific regulatory approvals.

Airtel Africa is the first mobile network operator in Africa to offer Starlink Direct to Cell service, powered by 650 satellites to provide seamless connectivity to its customers in remote areas. The partnership reinforces Airtel Africa’s commitment to bridge the digital divide and offer seamless connectivity to its customers. Airtel Africa and Starlink will continue to explore additional collaboration opportunities to further advance digital inclusion across the continent.

While Airtel Africa is a leading provider of telecommunications and mobile money services, with operations in 14 countries across sub-Saharan Africa with integrated offer that provides national and international mobile voice and data services as well as mobile money services to 174 million customers, Starlink Direct to Cell is the world’s only and largest constellation with more than 650 satellites in low-Earth orbit that delivers data, voice, video and messaging to devices in mobile dead zones.

Connecting more than 11million customers across five continents and counting, Direct to Cell satellites work with existing LTE phones wherever users can see the sky because it acts like a cell phone tower in space with the most advanced phased array antennas in the world that connect seamlessly across the Starlink network over lasers to any point in the globe, it enables network integration similar to a standard roaming partner.

Starlink is the world’s largest 4G coverage provider and partners with MNOs all over the world.

More than 205 million spam short message service (SMS) messages were detected by Airtel Africa’s pioneering Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered spam detection service, Spam Alert in 13 of its markets over the last six months.

The Spam Alert Service, which is available to all subscribers at no cost, identifies and prefixes the SMS with “SPAM Alert” and provides real-time updates with the immediate impact being the elimination of the need to download additional applications to manage spam.

Airtel Africa has so far rolled out the service in 13 of its 14 markets, namely Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia, Uganda, Gabon, Congo Brazzaville, Malawi, Madagascar, DRC, Rwanda, Tanzania, Chad and Niger. Seychelles will launch soon.

During the period under review, Kenya recorded the highest spam volume with 68m million messages flagged followed by Tanzania and Zambia with 47m and 33million, respectively.

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Overall, there has been a 12per cent reduction in spam messages since the launch of the Airtel Africa SPAM Alert service with Nigeria recording the highest drop of 84 per cent.

Airtel Africa CEO, Sunil Taldar said, “We are proud to pioneer an advanced tech solution powered by AI in tackling spam messages that are a major concern in Africa as smartphone penetration increases. This free service is yet another demonstration of our commitment to consistently innovate to deliver an unmatched experience and safer network to our customers.”

Airtel Africa’s Spam Alert service uses AI to analyse and classify SMS messages as “SPAM ALERT” based on various parameters, including the sender's usage patterns and SMS frequency in real time.

Airtel Africa Foundation, through Airtel Nigeria, has announced that two Nigerian students, Terence Ifeanyichukwu and Ali Usman Mohammed, have been selected as recipients of the prestigious Airtel Africa Fellowship.

These scholars will pursue undergraduate studies in technology, including Artificial Intelligence, at Plaksha University in Mohali, India, an institution known for reimagining engineering education for the 21st century.

The Airtel Africa Fellowship, launched in September 2024, is a flagship educational initiative of the Airtel Africa Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Airtel Africa, the leading telecom and mobile money services provider with operations across 14 African countries.

The Fellowship aims to provide academically gifted but financially disadvantaged African youth with access to quality STEM education and global opportunities that would otherwise be out of reach.

According to Airtel Africa Foundation Chairman, Dr Segun Ogunsanya, “Beyond offering an opportunity to study in one of the most advanced universities in the world, this Fellowship is also about equipping Africa’s future tech leaders with up-to-date skills while nurturing their talent, drive, and ambition to change their communities and the world. We are immensely proud of Terence and Ali and are confident they will make Nigeria proud.”

The selection process, fully managed by Plaksha University, was competitive and rigorous; rooted in the university’s high standards and commitment to diversity.

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Applicants were evaluated through a comprehensive process that considered academic excellence, leadership potential, personal drive, and alignment with Plaksha University’s mission. From a broad pool spanning Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, and Tanzania, 21 candidates were shortlisted, with 13 completing both interview stages. Following a final review by the university’s admissions committee, two candidates, both Nigerians, were presented with admission offers.

Through this collaboration, Airtel Africa Foundation not only supports the academic pursuits of the selected scholars but also contributes to a long-term vision: equipping Africa’s youth with advanced digital skills, nurturing innovation, and breaking cycles of poverty.

Airtel Nigeria CEO, Dinesh Balsingh, further described the scholarships as crucial steps toward building the human capital needed for Nigeria’s digital transformation.

“Through high-calibre technology education like that which is offered through the Airtel Africa Fellowship, our hope is to contribute significantly to the growth of Nigeria’s digital economy by helping to train a large number of technical talents across the board,” he said.

As it is set to announce 100 additional local scholarships to more Nigerian undergraduates, this milestone reinforces Airtel Africa Foundation’s mission to empower African youth through its operational pillars of financial inclusion, education, environmental protection, and digital inclusion (F.E.E.D.), creating opportunities where talent exists but opportunity may be scarce.

Airtel Nigeria yesterday said its doubled investments will directly accelerate critical network initiatives including nationwide coverage expansion, capacity augmentation through spectrum acquisition, fibre rollout, and satellite partnerships with Starlink and OneWeb.

Its Chief Technology Officer, Harmanpreet Dhillon, disclosed these initiatives during national Tv’s Economy Watch programme, where he reaffirmed telco’s commitment to building a more resilient and inclusive digital infrastructure for Nigeria.

He said: “Airtel’s priority is nationwide coverage, complemented by robust capacity augmentation through additional radios on 2G and 4G, alongside upgrades to 5G. We are equally investing in strengthening our fibre backbone and, through partnerships with Starlink and OneWeb, extending dependable connectivity to even the most remote communities across Nigeria.”

The company is also advancing a second subsea cable landing station in Port Harcourt and constructing a new cutting-edge data centre to strengthen cloud, AI, and digital solution capabilities.

Director, Corporate Communications & CSR at Airtel Nigeria, Femi Adeniran, in a statement explained that the CTO further revealed that Airtel is expanding international connectivity by delivering a second subsea cable landing station in Port Harcourt, diversifying beyond Lagos.

Simultaneously, work is underway on a world-class data centre designed to support cloud computing, artificial intelligence applications, and next-generation enterprise and consumer digital solutions.

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These projects, he explained, will deliver faster speeds, ultra-low latency, stronger resilience, and enhanced customer experiences for millions of Nigerians. Airtel’s ambition extends beyond serving current urban users to bridging the digital divide in rural communities, thereby enabling access to healthcare, education, and financial services through reliable connectivity.

“With Nigeria’s digital demand growing at an unprecedented pace, Airtel is doubling down on its investments not just to build infrastructure but to empower millions of Nigerians with inclusive digital access. This commitment keeps Nigeria’s digital economy ahead of the curve while ensuring every Nigerian is connected and enabled to thrive,” Dhillon said.

Airtel’s expanded investment strategy also aligns with national priorities to stimulate innovation, enable fintech expansion, and support the broader development of smart cities and the digital economy.

This reinforcement from the CTO underscores the company’s consistent message: every step of its investment agenda is designed to transform infrastructure into opportunity, delivering on Airtel’s purpose of empowering communities through connectivity.

Airtel Nigeria is increasing investments in infrastructure and systems to improve customers’ experience and roll out of more advanced technologies.

Chief Executive Officer, Airtel Nigeria, Dinesh Balsingh, who spoke with reporters Lagos yesterday, said the telecommunication company has moved from network key performance indicator (KPI) to customer KPI in a strategic shift that ensures customers get the best available services.

He outlined the company’s strategic focus on network quality, customer-focus, stressing that service quality, customer experience and innovation remained the three pillars of the company’s focus in the country.

He also promised to deepen the roll out of the fifth generation (5G) technology in the country, saying the network is available and ready to carry the traffic.

According to him, the problem with 5G uptake in the country remained the availability of affordable compatible devices.

He said the major issue is how to reduce the cost of 5G devices, adding that the telco remained committed to ensuring that its consumers enjoy the technology.

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He said the fintech ecosystem in the country is flourishing; the future of the industry is bright and “there’s no better place to be at this time than Nigeria”. 

Balsingh assured that the company is ramping up network innovation, artificial intelligence (AI)-powered experience tools, and distributed infrastructure investments to position itself at the centre of the country’s data-led transformation.

 “Nigeria’s urban landscape is evolving at a fast pace. We are seeing massive vertical growth with high-rise buildings, horizontal expansion of city boundaries, and a surge in digital activity. Our network must evolve with it,” Balsingh said.

He said the company is responding to the increasing complexity of Nigeria’s megacities by deploying distributed network solutions, including small cells, underground fiber, and lamppost-mounted micro-antennas, especially in high-density zones.

“This is no longer about traditional tower-based coverage. In dense cities like Lagos, network experience varies floor by floor. We now deploy AI tools that analyze customer experience in real time, not just signal strength,” he added.

The company says it has migrated from using standard network APIs to customer experience APIs, allowing it to detect and fix user-specific issues across devices, locations, and sessions, a shift Airtel says will give it a competitive edge in service personalization.

According to Balsingh, the company is scaling up investment in fiber deployment to support 4G and 5G growth. Airtel has already relocated over 3,000 kilometres of fiber across Nigeria in the last two years, aimed at improving route redundancy and minimizing downtimes caused by road construction and vandalism.

“We are now focused on ensuring every site is fiber-connected. Fiber is the bedrock of capacity, especially as we roll out 5G in select pockets based on device availability and demand,” he said.

He commended recent policy interventions, including the Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) designation for telecom assets, saying it would deter sabotage and enhance infrastructure resilience.

While urban demand remains strong, Balsingh emphasized that Airtel is not neglecting rural coverage. The company is currently in talks with Starlink and OneWeb to leverage satellite connectivity for rural backhaul, enabling wider 4G data access in underserved locations.

He said: “Voice is present in most areas, but delivering high-speed data in rural terrain requires satellite backhaul. We are piloting a number of solutions and scaling them gradually. The future is digital, from AI to cloud and IoT and Nigeria is poised to be a leader. Our job is to ensure the infrastructure keeps pace.”

Telecom service provider, Airtel Nigeria,  has announced that its AI-powered Spam Alert Service issued over 9.6 million spam alerts between March 13 and May 20, 2025.

As part of its ongoing commitment to protecting customers from unwanted and potentially fraudulent communications, Airtel designed the AI Spam Alert service to analyze traffic patterns and detect anomalies. In the period since launch the AI pinpointed a total of 9,667,008 SMS as potential spam messages in the two months after its launch.

 Of these, the system identified 528,080 on-net (Airtel-to-Airtel) and 9,138,928 off-net (from other networks) numbers as suspected spam messages, demonstrating the scale of the threat and Airtel’s advanced processing capability.

Airtel Nigeria is a subsidiary of Airtel Africa.

Commenting on this development, Airtel Nigeria CEO Dinesh Balsingh has restated Airtel`s commitment to protecting its customers.

“This milestone demonstrates the strength of our AI-driven infrastructure in combating the growing menace of spam and scam calls. At Airtel Nigeria, we are focused on connecting Nigerians and ensuring their safety and confidence while using our network.

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“We understand that trust is the cornerstone of digital communication. That’s why we’ve invested heavily in intelligent systems that not only detect potential threats but also learn and evolve with data. As threats become more sophisticated, so will our solutions. As a company, we remain focused on leading the industry in innovation and customer satisfaction, ensuring that every Nigerian can enjoy a safer and smarter digital experience,” Mr. Balsingh said.

The Spam Alert Service is part of Airtel Nigeria’s broader strategy to integrate artificial intelligence into its core offerings to deliver smarter and safer experiences for its customers across the country.

Recall that the Spam Alert Service was launched on March 13, 2025. A groundbreaking and free solution from Airtel, it notifies users in real-time of suspected spam SMS messages by analyzing over 250 parameters. The Airtel AI Spam Alert Service is available to all Airtel subscribers on smartphones and feature phones.