Mafab Communications, one of the firms that secured Nigeria’s $273 million 5G license in 2021, has once again failed to meet its promised service rollout deadline.
Despite assuring Nigerians last December that it would go live in Abuja and Kano by the end of Q1 2025, the company has not deployed any of its proposed 102 network sites—casting serious doubts on its readiness and capacity to enter Nigeria’s competitive 5G arena.
With Mafab missing yet another launch date, Nigeria’s 5G market remains dominated by just two players—MTN and Airtel—limiting consumer choices and stalling the government’s digital infrastructure goals.
This isn’t the first time Mafab has raised hopes only to backtrack. As far back as January 2023, it held launch events in Abuja and Lagos, but never followed through with actual service deployment. Initially meant to go live in August 2022, the company was granted a five-month grace period by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) after failing to acquire a crucial Unified Access Service License (UASL). Two years later, Mafab has yet to deliver.
Sources within the NCC say Executive Vice Chairman, Aminu Maida, met with Mafab executives in December 2024, warning them to launch soon or face regulatory consequences. The company then pledged to roll out services in Q1 2025—a promise that has now fallen flat.
Legal and telecom experts say Mafab’s main challenge is funding. “They haven’t been able to raise the capital needed for deployment,” said Rotimi Akapo, telecom law expert at Advocaat Law Practice. With 5G infrastructure being highly expensive—about $1.2 million per site in Nigeria—Mafab’s projected 102 base stations could cost up to $122 million.
To move forward, the company would need to either lease existing infrastructure from firms like IHS Towers or American Tower Corporation, or build its own from scratch—both routes requiring long-term investment, technical setup, and a functioning billing system.
Mafab had originally planned to sidestep head-to-head competition with giants like MTN and Airtel by focusing on underserved cities like Kano. But those operators have already introduced 5G services in Kano, narrowing Mafab’s window of opportunity.
Facing funding constraints and a shrinking market gap, Mafab might now shift toward fixed wireless broadband—a cheaper, more localized alternative—but that too requires heavy investment in backhaul infrastructure like fiber networks.
Industry insiders suggest investor confidence in Mafab is low, especially given its lack of experience and Nigeria’s ongoing foreign exchange crisis, which complicates capital inflows from abroad.
Unless Mafab secures substantial backing and infrastructure soon, it risks losing its 5G license and becoming a footnote in the country’s digital evolution. For now, the future of the firm—and its promise to revolutionize Nigerian connectivity—remains in serious doubt.
