The consultation is the latest regulatory response to a problem that has long plagued Nigeria’s digital landscape, uneven network coverage.

What Satellite D2D in Rural and Remote Locations

Despite Nigeria being Africa’s largest telecoms market by subscriber numbers, millions of citizens remain disconnected from reliable mobile services. An NCC 2024 Cluster Gap Study identified 87 underserved or unserved clusters, often described as connectivity “blackspots.” These are locations where traditional mobile network expansion has proven commercially or technically unviable.

In these locations, the high cost of building and maintaining base stations, power infrastructure challenges, vandalism, and security risks have consistently discouraged network operators.

As a result, an estimated 23.3 million Nigerians remain outside effective terrestrial mobile coverage, limiting access to emergency services, digital payments, online education, telemedicine, and modern economic participation.

Satellite D2D, sometimes referred to as “satellite-to-phone” or non-terrestrial networks (NTN), allows standard mobile devices to connect directly to low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites. They work for basic communication services, without the need for nearby cell towers.

In early phases, such services typically support, text messaging, emergency alerts and limited data services. Full broadband-level connectivity is usually a later stage, depending on spectrum allocation, device compatibility, and regulatory approval.