Empirical Measurement of 5G Mobile Signal Path Loss in Southern and Northern Urban Metropolis of Nigeria

Abstract

Accurate characterisation of large-scale radio attenuation is important for fifth-generation (5G) network planning, particularly in heterogeneous urban environments. This study reports a drive-test assessment conducted in Lagos and Ibadan in southern Nigeria and Abuja and Kano in northern Nigeria at 3.5-3.6 GHz. The reported measurement configuration used a receiver height of 1.5 m, a transmitting-antenna height of approximately 40-45 m, and transmitter-receiver separations of about 50-500 m. Reference Signal Received Power, Reference Signal Received Quality, signal-to-noise ratio, throughput, and Global Positioning System coordinates were logged using TEMS Investigation, a 5G signal analyser, and a vehicle-mounted measurement setup. A locally calibrated log-distance relation with city-specific intercept terms was graphically juxtaposed with Okumura-Hata, COST-231 Hata, Egli, and the ITU-R P.833-9 vegetation-attenuation formulation. The plots show substantial divergence among model families and among city/operator panels, demonstrating that model choice and local calibration assumptions materially affect predicted attenuation trends. The ITU-R P.833-9 series is interpreted only as a vegetation-attenuation benchmark rather than a complete urban path-loss model. The results do not support a universal north-south ranking of propagation loss; instead, they indicate site-, route-, and configuration-dependent behaviour. Because complete route-level residuals, uncertainty estimates, and all fitted model parameters are not available for every panel, the comparison is intentionally descriptive and does not claim statistical superiority of one model. The findings support cautious, measurement-informed calibration of 5G propagation models for Nigerian urban deployments.