Why Nigeria’s Creator Economy Runs on Call Reliability

A creator’s most expensive problem isn’t always “low views.” Sometimes it’s a call that doesn’t connect.

When a brand manager tries to confirm a December campaign brief, when a film set needs a last‑minute location approval, or when a music producer sends a voice note to lock in a hook before the session ends—telecom reliability becomes the invisible backbone of Nigeria’s digital content economy. If calls fail, coordination slows. If networks wobble, trust drops. And if charging goes wrong, creators feel it immediately.

Ibikunle Peters has spent more than 10 years doing the unglamorous work that keeps calls going through—across Huawei, Airtel, and 9Mobile (now T2). He calls it “keeping the lights on.” I like that phrase because it’s honest: the best infrastructure work is the kind nobody notices… until it breaks.

This post sits inside our series on How AI is powering Nigeria’s digital content & creator economy, and here’s the twist: before AI tools can help creators scale output, networks must reliably carry the basics—voice, identity checks, routing, and billing—at national scale.

What actually happens when you make a phone call in Nigeria

A phone call is a chain of systems handing your voice from one point to another, while confirming identity, routing correctly, and applying the right charges. If any link fails, you get call drops, one-way audio, “network busy,” or weird billing.

Peters describes the call journey as a value chain, not a single action. From a creator-economy standpoint, that value chain is what turns an idea into a booked job: the agreement call, the logistics call, the “I’m outside” call, the “send the invoice” follow-up.

The mast (BTS): where your call enters the network

Your phone first talks to a base transceiver station (BTS)—the mast. Peters compares it to a Wi‑Fi router: closer usually means better signal.

For creators, this is the practical reality behind those familiar decisions:

• Recording content outside? Your upload might be fine on data, but your voice call could still struggle if the serving cell is congested.
• Hosting live interviews over a phone call? Audio quality can degrade even when you “have bars,” because voice quality depends on more than signal strength.

The controller (BSC): coordinating towers so you don’t drop

Masts don’t work alone. They coordinate through systems like the base station controller (BSC) so your phone can move (handover) from one coverage area to another.

This matters more than people admit. Nigeria’s creator economy is mobile: shoots, events, weddings, rallies, concerts, pop-up markets. When your team is moving between cells, handover performance is the difference between “I’m 2 minutes away” and a missed connection that delays the entire set.

The identity brain (HLR): “Who are you and who are you calling?”

Then comes the home location register (HLR)—the system that knows you’re a valid subscriber and helps route the call. Peters calls it your database: it stores registration details, which base station is serving you, and how to find the person you’re calling.

The HLR also supports key call decisions:

• On-net vs interconnect: calling within the same network vs calling another operator. That affects routing and settlement between telcos.
• Number analysis and charging rules: whether you’re in-country or roaming, whether the number is toll-free, and whether calls should be restricted.

Creators feel this when a “simple” call behaves differently across networks—especially when teams use mixed SIMs to hedge network reliability.

A phone call isn’t just connectivity. It’s identity, routing, and billing working together in real time.

“Keeping the lights on” is the creator economy’s real infrastructure

A lot of people talk about creator tools—editing apps, AI voice cloning, content calendars. Useful, yes. But most creators in Nigeria don’t fail because they lack tools. They fail because operations break down.

Here’s the chain reaction:

• A call fails → a decision is delayed.
• A decision is delayed → a shoot starts late.
• A shoot starts late → a deliverable misses a brand’s internal deadline.
• A deliverable misses the deadline → payment gets pushed.

That’s not theory. It’s how “network issues” quietly become cash flow issues.

And it’s why telecom reliability is more than a consumer convenience—it’s a business platform. Peters’ remit included network coverage and call quality, but also something creators rarely consider: getting charged correctly. When billing systems are wrong, people don’t just complain. They churn, they distrust bundles, and they reduce usage—exactly the opposite of what the digital content economy needs.

Why voice still matters when everyone says “data is everything”

Nigeria’s creator economy runs heavily on WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and streaming. So yes, data is king.

But voice remains the fastest tool for high-stakes coordination:

• Negotiating pricing (people still prefer calls for money conversations)
• Confirming logistics during events
• Managing teams on the move
• Closing brand approvals under time pressure

Creators don’t need a perfect network. They need a predictable one.

The 68,000-SIM election deployment: a masterclass in scale

One of Peters’ defining career moments was supporting Nigeria’s 2023 general elections by deploying over 68,000 SIM cards for BVAS operations.

Read that again: 68,000 SIMs provisioned, configured, activated, and expected to work under pressure.

The point isn’t politics. The point is operational scale.

If telecom teams can coordinate tens of thousands of provisioned endpoints for a national event with tight timelines, then the same discipline (and the same infrastructure) is what supports creator economy spikes:

• A major concert night where everyone is posting and calling
• A viral news cycle where creators publish in real time
• Holiday campaigns in December where brands demand rapid turnaround

What creators can learn from telecom execution

Telecom operators treat outages like emergencies because they are. Creators should copy that mindset for their own operations.

A practical “telecom-style” reliability checklist for creators and digital entrepreneurs:

1. Use redundancy intentionally: keep at least two SIMs from different networks for business lines.
2. Separate personal and business routing: one number for brand/clients, one for personal—less missed calls, cleaner follow-ups.
3. Schedule approvals earlier than you want: plan for the real world (traffic + network + human delay).
4. Log failures: note when and where calls drop during shoots or travel. Patterns help you plan coverage.

It’s not glamorous, but it saves money.

Where AI fits: from troubleshooting to enterprise automation

Peters notes that AI adoption is accelerating in telecoms and beyond. I agree—and I’m opinionated about what “real” AI value looks like in Nigeria’s context.

It’s not about fancy demos. It’s about reducing downtime, improving call quality, and preventing billing errors at scale.

AI in telecoms: the practical use cases that matter

AI is most useful in telecom when it does three jobs well:

• Predict issues before customers feel them (capacity strain, failing equipment, unusual congestion)
• Detect abnormal patterns fast (fraud, SIM misuse, sudden signaling storms)
• Recommend actions engineers can execute quickly (reroutes, parameter tuning, targeted maintenance)

This is where “keeping the lights on” becomes smarter.

When voice and data networks become more reliable, creators get a direct upside:

• Fewer aborted brand calls
• Cleaner remote interviews
• More dependable customer support lines for digital businesses
• More stable collaboration across cities

“There’s more beyond prompting” — and creators should take that seriously

Peters’ line lands: “There’s more beyond prompting.” He’s right, and creators will feel this shift in 2026.

As AI spreads across Nigerian businesses, brands will expect creators to work with AI-enabled workflows: faster turnaround, better reporting, stronger audience insights, cleaner asset management.

The creators who win won’t just generate content. They’ll run systems.

That’s why infrastructure investments—like data centres operators are building and expanding—matter to the creator economy narrative. AI needs compute and connectivity. Creators need AI that works reliably on Nigerian networks, during Nigerian peak hours, with Nigerian constraints.

People also ask: common questions creators have about network reliability

Why do calls fail even when I have signal?

Because signal bars don’t guarantee capacity. Congestion, handover issues between masts, routing problems, or subscriber database lookups can still disrupt a call.

Is it smarter to rely on WhatsApp calls instead of regular calls?

WhatsApp calls depend heavily on data quality. Regular voice calls depend on voice network performance. Smart teams keep both options and choose based on context.

What’s the fastest way to reduce call-related delays on set?

Redundancy and process: two networks available, one designated “set coordinator” line, and clear escalation when a call doesn’t go through.

What this means for Nigeria’s creator economy in 2026

Nigeria’s digital content economy is getting more professional by the month. Brand budgets are tightening. Deliverables are stricter. Audiences are harder to impress. That pushes creators toward better workflows—and those workflows depend on reliable telecom infrastructure.

Peters’ career is a reminder that the creator economy doesn’t float on vibes. It runs on base stations, controllers, subscriber databases, billing systems, and teams who treat reliability like a national priority.

If you’re building in this space—creator, agency, platform, or brand—don’t treat connectivity as background noise. Treat it like production gear.

The next wave of AI-powered creativity in Nigeria won’t just be about better content. It’ll be about content that ships on time, every time, because the systems underneath don’t blink. Where do you still lose the most time today—ideation, production, approvals… or communication?