When Glory walked into her local Airtel outlet in December 2025 to get a 5G Outdoor Unit (ODU) broadband router, the offer appeared straightforward. A customer care representative recommended the device and described the setup as flexible: the router was essentially free, and all she had to pay was an initial ₦25,000 to cover her monthly subscription fee — nothing more, nothing less.

That is what she was led to believe.

Glory completed the standard onboarding form, writing down her name, address and National Identification Number (NIN), handed over her payment and left the store with the router, believing she now owned it. Neither the field installation technician nor the sales agent at the showroom gave her a copy of the terms and conditions (T&C), and no one offered a verbal explanation of the service's legal terms.

After she paused her active subscription beginning in February 2026, the calls began in June 2026. Airtel representatives demanded the return of the equipment, citing a clause Glory had never heard of: three consecutive months of non-subscription gives the operator the right to retrieve the router.

So apparently if you purchased this Airtel Odu and Idu device, just know that the device doesn't belong to you but rather it's still the PROPERTY OF AIRTEL. I got a call earlier today, that they want to come retrieve it because I haven't used it since February this year pic.twitter.com/I3mlFhPTXi — MissG (@MissGijae) June 18, 2026

Weeks of retrieval demands followed until an agent finally arrived at her residence in October 2026 to dismantle and collect the hardware. Her experience exposes a striking gap between how "free" routers are marketed and who actually owns them.

For all mobile network operators (MNOs) and internet service providers (ISPs) selling broadband products, contractual terms stipulate what binds the usage, ownership and handling of these routers. Simply by starting to use the service, customers automatically agree to those terms and conditions — often without ever seeing them.

One of the clauses least known to Nigerian subscribers is that they do not own the fixed wireless or fibre terminals installed in their homes, even after paying the initial onboarding fee, which is in fact the first payment toward the subscription. Whether the hardware is a fixed wireless ODU or IDU linking a home to the operator's radio network, or an ONT terminating a fibre line, the structure is the same: the customer pays for connectivity while the operator keeps the asset. The operators' terms and conditions spell out the ownership arrangements and the circumstances under which a customer can lose access to the device.

Airtel: two-year lock-in, three-month trigger

For Airtel's ODU and IDU devices, the operator's policy retains company ownership of the routers for an extended lock-in period — always the first two years. Under these terms, the hardware is tied strictly to active usage, and three consecutive months of non-subscription, termed inactivity, grants Airtel the legal right to repossess the router from the subscriber's location.

Another key clause bars customers from moving the router from its installed location without the provider's consent. A subscriber who is relocating must therefore obtain approval before moving a device that is not legally theirs.

Airtel has also stated the policy publicly:

Please note that Airtel has the right to recover the 5G Router device from customer if not recharged for 3 months consecutively. — Airtel Nigeria (@AirtelNigeria) July 18, 2025

MTN FibreX: the ONT remains MTN property at all times

MTN's broadband product FibreX takes an equally firm position on ownership. Under Section 3 of the MTN FibreX Terms and Conditions for Free-To-Use ONT – MTN Nigeria, titled "Provision, Ownership and Return," the Optical Network Terminal (ONT) remains the sole property of MTN Nigeria at all times, though it is provided free to eligible users.

The customer is obligated to return the router, or make it available for retrieval, upon service disconnection or after prolonged inactivity — defined as no revenue or data traffic — for a continuous period of six (6) months, following prior notification.

Although the ONT belongs to the provider, the customer is held responsible for protecting the device from the date of installation onward. In the case of loss or damage, the customer is liable for loss, theft or damage to the ONT — an obligation that does not apply where the loss or damage results from fair wear and tear or from defects not caused by the customer.

MTN FlyX: 90 days of inactivity triggers retrieval

In the same vein, MTN's FlyX agreement states explicitly, under Section 3 (ODU Ownership), that the router remains the property of MTN Nigeria at all times. Section 6 (Service Subscription Requirements) requires customers to maintain an active subscription; failure to do so for 90 consecutive days (three months) leads to service suspension and retrieval of the ODU.

Section 9 (Device Recovery) adds further grounds on which a customer can lose access to the device. Aside from inactivity, MTN can retrieve the equipment if it has been relocated without prior authorisation, if there are traces of fraudulent use of the service, or if the customer deliberately terminates the service.

Read side by side, the inactivity triggers vary considerably: 90 consecutive days for MTN's FlyX, three consecutive months for Airtel's ODU and IDU devices, three cumulative months of non-use for Spectranet, and six months for MTN FibreX. A subscriber who steps away from a paid service for a single quarter has already crossed the shortest of these thresholds — usually without ever having seen them in writing.

Spectranet and Wifiber: similar ownership carve-outs

ISPs likewise draw distinctions between the routers they supply and their ownership status. Spectranet's terms and conditions state that customers cannot claim ownership of certain equipment or accessories supplied and installed by the company. Section 12.3 provides that services can be terminated in the absence of revenue-generating activity for a cumulative period of three months due to non-use, and that such equipment must be returned in good condition.

On responsibility for damage or loss, Section 9.2 says Spectranet will not be responsible for any loss, direct or indirect, that is not the result of the provider's negligence or breach of the agreement. The ISP's Fair Usage Terms, broadly stated under Section 5, provide for a Fair Usage Policy (FUP) that establishes a data transfer threshold for each customer and limits the high-speed bandwidth and network resources available to a subscriber.

Wifiber's terms of service likewise stipulate how customers can lose access to their routers. Under Section 11 (Non-Payment of Bills), Wifiber can disconnect the equipment in the event of non-payment of bills, after all measures have been taken to recover the fee. Section 11.2 adds that the provider can impose late fees or interest on any overdue repayment. Under Section 14 (Product Warranty and Maintenance), customers are held responsible for equipment damage caused by negligence, misuse or failure to follow instructions.

Intentional omissions at the point of sale

The clauses exist in official documentation, but most subscribers remain unaware of them until they fall into these legal traps. A field study by Technext indicates that sales agents make intentional omissions at the point of purchase to secure sales incentives.

During the study, Technext spoke with more than 10 fixed wireless users; only one was aware of any terms and conditions and able to produce them upon request. On another occasion, a respondent asked a supposed agent for the terms, and the agent responded days later with a link to the operator's terms and conditions.

In a separate conversation, Glory explained that she was unaware of any binding document when she received payment confirmation emails and was matched with an installation agent to set up the device. She was caught off guard when the calls began arriving in June.

Sales agents, for their part, are driven by sign-up targets and commission flows. Disclosing that a customer could lose their equipment after 90 days of non-subscription creates friction that might deter sales — a dynamic that prompts agents to skip the contractual details entirely.

In one chat in which Technext posed as a customer seeking to onboard, the agent said: "The price is #25,000. Comes with 30 days of unlimited data. More than 30 can connect at the same time. Fast and lovely. It comes with a power bank too."

Throughout that lengthy chat, the agent made no mention of any terms and conditions. When Technext asked about the 90-day non-usage rule and the return policy, the agent replied: "Depends on where you get it." That was followed by "Let me register you" and "Let me know when you are ready" — responses that underscore how heavily agents are driven by sales targets and how little concern they show for the aftermath.

At the point of signing up, subscribers are given basic paper forms or digital tablets that capture only identity verification data such as name, address and NIN. The actual legal terms governing hardware lease limits, return obligations, inactivity penalties and other clauses are neither provided as printed documentation nor stated verbally during sign-up.

The terms themselves are not secret: MTN's FibreX conditions, Spectranet's terms and Wifiber's terms of service are all published online, so a prospective subscriber can review the ownership and inactivity clauses before paying — and ask direct questions about who owns the device and what happens when a subscription lapses.

A call for regulatory enforcement

In a fast-evolving telecoms industry, at a time when high-speed internet is heavily sought after, the gap between telecom marketing claims and hidden contractual lines leaves subscribers vulnerable to unexpected repossessions and service disruptions.

While operators have the right to manage their equipment assets, failing to provide physical copies of terms and conditions at points of sale — while agents continue to advertise devices as free — amounts to unfair trade practice. For consumer protection, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) must enforce strict rules that ensure agents provide customers with clear guidelines before collecting any subscription fees. Until that happens, the printed terms — not the sales pitch — remain the only reliable record of who owns the router sitting in a subscriber's home.

This article is based on reporting by TechNext24.