The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and MTN Nigeria have launched free WiFi services at the Lagos and Abuja airports.
The service is currently live at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Terminal 2 in Lagos and the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA) in Abuja.
This ends a decade-long internet blackout at Nigerian airports after the collapse of a previous partnership with Globacom in 2015. Since then, travelers have relied on personal mobile data or private lounges for connectivity.
The new project operates under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, where MTN Nigeria manages the infrastructure and operational costs, while FAAN provides branding and advertising spaces within the terminals.
FAAN plans to extend coverage to the MMIA temporary terminal within weeks, followed by Port Harcourt, Kano, and Enugu international airports over the next three months.
The partnership requires no direct capital expenditure from the government, as MTN offsets installation and maintenance costs through on-ground branding rights.
Travelers can connect without a password, though the service may eventually feature time-limited sessions or bandwidth tiers.
”In 21st-century Nigeria, no Nigerian airport should be an offline island. This WiFi is our promise that FAAN is listening… we are not simply installing routers; we are building bridges between government objectives and citizen experience” – Olubunmi Kuku, FAAN Managing Director
MTN stated that the infrastructure is designed to manage contention of many users drawing from the same bandwidth source during travel hours.
