One of the high points of 2025 will be improved connectivity nationwide. But there remain some perennial bottlenecks, ADEYEMI ADEPETUN reports.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Nigeria is expected to begin the deployment of an additional 90,000km of fibre optic cables anytime from April 2025. This is expected to help the country improve Internet connectivity and speed affordability and give the country’s digital economy a fillip.
While the fibre revolution promises to transform Nigeria’s digital landscape and unlock significant economic and social benefits for its citizens, the government’s commitment, coupled with private sector investment, is critical in driving the push for a more connected and digitally empowered Nigeria. Security is also critical in this regard.
President Bola Tinubu, during his maiden Presidential Media Chat last December, alluded to the fact that Nigeria was in critical need of infrastructure, including Internet facilities, to improve connectivity.
The Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, who has been critical about the need to improve the country’s digital landscape, assured of implementing the fibre project beginning the second quarter.
Tijani said the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in mid-2024 approved a memo, which was to set up a special purpose vehicle that is meant to deploy 90,000 kilometres of fibre optic cables in Nigeria, saying the Federal Government planned to invest $2 billion in the project.
According to him, half of the investment the government is making available is “about $1 billion and will be secured through loans, which is part of the budget”.
In addition to the government funding, he said the ministry has secured private companies to provide the other half of the project’s financing.
The minister, who noted that significant progress has been made in discussions with funding partners of the project, especially the World Bank, said the government hopes to commence digging for the laying of the cables in Q2 2025.
Speaking on the importance of government support and investment, the minister said many Nigerians are complaining about the poor quality of service today because of the inadequate infrastructure deployed by private operators.
He noted that the operators would only invest in areas where they can get higher returns, which is why some parts of the country have been experiencing poor connectivity.
“When we came in, the assessment we made was that as a nation, you have two options: build on the backbone for a digital economy and connectivity.
“For people to truly enjoy quality connectivity, you will have to rely on private companies, the MNOs, the infracos, to put their private funding into building expansive and extensive networks for connectivity within the country.
“But the challenge with that approach, which is the first approach, is that businesses would only invest significantly where they are sure that their returns can be guaranteed almost immediately, at least in a short to medium-term sense.
“The other option, which is the common option that you’ve seen in many progressive countries, is that the government will have to understand and, of course, put its skin in the game, knowing that connectivity is now clearly an important resource that every citizen should have access to, regardless of where you find yourself,” he explained.
Fibre deployment thus far
ACCORDING to statistics available, telecoms operators have been at the forefront of fibre deployment and investments in the country.The total on-land fibre deployment has crossed 61,897.31km as of December 2022, compared to 47,128.7km in 2021. The growth was recorded by Airtel whose fibre deployment grew to 16,112.2km in 2022 from 14,454km in 2021; and Glo which grew to 13,813km in 2022 from 13,233km in 2021. MTN’s fibre deployment at the end of 2022 was at 30,460.31km. The company said it has added 1,511.74km to date, bringing its current fibre kilometres to 31,972.11km. EMTS trading as 9mobile has deployed 4,659km with NTEL deploying only 180km of the infrastructure.
Earlier in 2024, a telecoms infrastructure company, IHS Nigeria, said it had completed the rollout of more than 10,000 kilometres of fibre optic cables across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory through its subsidiary, Global Independent Connect Limited (GICL).
IHS has also deployed fiber-to-the-tower (FTTT) to provide increased transmission capacity, improve the performance of fibre access networks, and introduce next-generation technologies, such as 5G services and broadband penetration. MainOne has equally laid fibre cables in some part of South West.
This is coming as Lagos State planned to extend the state’s fibre-optic network by an additional 1,200 kilometers in 2025, complementing the existing 2,500 kilometers.
Project 774 LGAs Internet connectivity
PARTS of the FG’s fibre deployment entail connecting the 774 Local Government Areas to the Internet. Tijani said the project, which will be co-anchored by the Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited and Galaxy Backbone, is aligned with President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and the ministry’s strategic blueprint.
He added that the project’s overarching goal is to foster inclusive development and access to digital public infrastructure in government offices across Nigeria, including the most remote areas of the country that may have been previously underserved or unserved.
Already, NIGCOMSAT has connected about 42 LGAs in eight states with the hope of complementing FG’s fibre deployment for improved connectivity across the country.
Failing National Broadband Plan
THE need for improved fibre deployment is enshrined in the New National Broadband Plan (NNBP 2020-2025). This plan sets ambitious targets for broadband penetration to spur investment in fibre infrastructure. Through the NNBP, the country was hopeful of 70 per cent broadband penetration by 2025.
While the chances of attaining the 70 per cent target is very slim by year-end, data from NCC puts broadband penetration as of October 2024 at 42.24 per cent, which is 27.76 per cent short of the 70 per cent target. As such, Nigerians are grappling with poor mobile networks and slow Internet to perform their daily digital transactions including payments.
A cardinal target of the NNBP includes increasing access to high-speed Internet for the population, covering an increase in speed with a minimum of 25 Mbps in urban areas and 10 Mbps in rural areas, with effective coverage available to at least 90 per cent of the population by 2025 at a price not more than N390 per 1GB of data.
According to the Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Gbenga Adebayo, the implementation of the Plan has not been able to progress as it should because several challenges identified in the Plan have not been addressed.
He cited the issues of multiple taxation and high costs of the Right of Way (RoW) as impediments to the deployment of infrastructure by the telecom operators.
While the Plan envisaged that Nigeria would need between $3.5 and $5 billion in investment over five years to achieve full implementation, data indicated that foreign investments in the country’s telecoms sector have declined.
In 2023, for instance, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed that the telecommunications sector recorded a steep decline in foreign direct investments (FDIs) in the year as capital importation plunged by 239 per cent. The sector received a total of $134.75 million in 2023, a sharp decline compared with the $456.83 million recorded in 2022.
FDIs flow in the sector plummeted by $99.02 million in quarter three of 2024, according to the NBS.
According to the NBS Capital Importation report, the telecoms sector attracted $14.4 million in Q3, a sharp decline from the $113.42 investments recorded in Q2. This implied that the FDI to the sector slumped by 87 per cent in the period under review.
The fear of state governments
ANOTHER challenge that has waged war against fibre deployment and indeed expansion of telephone services across Nigeria has been RoW issues. Obtaining necessary permits and approvals for laying fibre cables can be time-consuming, complex and highly exorbitant as states and their agents see telecoms operators as cash cows, instead of development partners.
While seven states in the country have jettisoned RoW levies for telecoms operators, an NCC document listed the states to include Katsina, Zamfara, Kebbi, Adamawa, Bauchi, Anambra and Nasarawa, other states charge between N1500 and N6000 per linear meter against the N145/linear meter agreed by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum.
Presenting a paper at a telecoms forum on the topic, ‘Harmonising Nigeria’s Fibre Deployment Strategies for Effective Implementation’, Executive Director of Broadbased Communications, Chidi Ibisi, said while the government’s SPV initiative is a good plan that could help the country bridge its current digital infrastructure gap, the government would need to address current challenges.
“The issues of high cost of RoW, destruction of fiber by road construction companies and vandals all need to be addressed for this new SPV initiative to be successful,” he said.
Highlighting some of the challenges telecoms operators face when deploying infrastructure, the Group Chief Operating Officer of WTES Projects Limited, Chidi Ajuzie, said the biggest challenge to fibre cable laying in Nigeria is the informal RoW by hoodlums in states.
“For states, a formal RoW is set and some states are adopting it but the informal side of the right of way is where the complexity has come today.
“If I’m trying to lay fibre in some communities here in Lagos, the first thing that happens is the so-called land owners (omo onile) come out and a different set of people will keep coming from one street to another and they charge you. How do we achieve adequate broadband infrastructure in this kind of situation?” he said.
Long-run milestones
WHILE the overall target is to take Nigeria’s connectivity backbone to a minimum of 125,000km, the success of the project is expected to deliver up to 1.5 per cent of GDP growth per capital, raising it (GDP) from $472.6 billion (2022) to $502 billion over the next four years.
Indeed, should Nigeria succeed in the deployment, the potential benefits of the revolution in Nigeria will include improved Internet access and economic growth.
According to telecoms expert, Kehinde Aluko, enhanced connectivity is expected to boost G DP growth, creating new jobs and opportunities. Aluko said a robust fibre network will facilitate the development of new technologies and digital services in Nigeria, stressing that increased Internet access will improve access to educational resources and healthcare services, particularly in remote areas.
