The first study to identify clusters of voice telephony and transport network gap in the country was carried out by the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) in 2013 with an estimated population of about 36.8 million people and 207 clusters. The estimated number of people living in the unserved and underserved areas dropped from 36.8 million to 33.7 million people in an update study carried out in 2015.
In a recent update study carried out in 2019, the number of people living in the unserved and underserved areas was estimated to have dropped to 31.16 million and number of clusters reviewed down to 114.
The clusters are grouped according to five population density ranges and are represented in different colours, while areas with network signal are represented in white colour as presented below:
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Legend
Population Range
No of Clusters
2,500 - 50,000
8
50,001 - 100,000
12
100,001 - 200,000
29
200,001 - 500,000
51
500,001 - 906,000
14
Areas with Coverage
N/A
Each cluster has been defined and their attributes (such as major towns, occupation, institutions and vegetation type amongst others) identified. A visual presentation of the clusters is accessible in basic and interactive form.
The result of the study has assisted the USPF in designing projects and strategies to cover these gaps and ensure that everyone irrespective of locality is connected in the 21st century Nigeria.
