ntel, formerly Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL), is making an unusual bet in Nigeria’s telecom market: its future lies less in selling phone calls than in leasing the infrastructure behind them.
The former mobile operator and subsidiary of NatCom Development & Investment Limited said on Monday, during its relaunch, that it is transitioning into a digital infrastructure company, focusing on towers, fibre networks, power systems and real estate as operators increasingly look beyond subscriber growth for long-term profits.
The move marks another chapter in the company’s long journey. NATCOM Consortium acquired NITEL and its mobile arm, Mtel, for $252 million in 2015, inheriting valuable assets including fibre infrastructure, spectrum licences and real estate.
Launched as a 4G LTE operator in 2016, ntel struggled to compete with larger rivals and eventually fell into financial distress. Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), one of its largest creditors, later assumed control and is now backing the company’s latest turnaround.
Under the new strategy, ntel has reorganised into three businesses: Beam, Titan, and Eden. Rather than relying primarily on consumer telecom services, the company wants to generate long-term revenue by commercialising its infrastructure assets, joining a growing global trend of telecom operators making more money from the networks they own than from the phone calls they carry.
