The chief executive of Dimensions Data Limited, Mr Gbenga Olabiyi, has blamed road construction for 60 per cent of network outages caused by fibre cuts.
Speaking recently at the National Dig-Once Policy Forum, which marked the 8th Policy Implementation Assisted Forum (PIAFo), he drew attention to the gap between the infrastructure Nigeria has and what it can actually deliver if a coordinated framework is adopted.
“Nigeria currently has about 35,000 kilometres of fibre in the ground, yet only 16 per cent of Nigerians are connected to it. Broadband penetration stands at 45 per cent. Lagos alone has a penetration rate of over 70 per cent,” Mr Olabiyi said.
He emphasised that the failure to address the missing fibre link over the years has led to saturation of connectivity in urban centres, while the hinterlands are left either unconnected or poorly served.
At the same programme, convened by Mr Omobayo Azeez, stakeholders in the telecommunications sector called for the adoption of the dig-once policy to lower the costs of fibre deployment, reduce infrastructure damage, improve safety, and shorten rollout timelines.
Quoting the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), it was noted that of the 50,000 fibre cut incidents recorded in a year, about 30,000, which represents 60 per cent, occurred during road construction and rehabilitation.
Stakeholders thus called for a review of existing road construction and building codes to accommodate the installation of fibre conduits in the original design standard of the infrastructure planning.
“What Dig-Once offers is an opportunity to correct this,” the president of the Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria, Mr Tony Emoekpere, stated.
He added that even operators frequently damage one another’s cables during repeated digging, thus increasing repair costs and service disruptions.
The Deputy Director of Strategic Business Initiatives at ipNX Nigeria Limited, Mr Segun Okuneye, said under the dig-once policy, road contractors should install ducts during construction.
He said the repeated excavation of the road leads to incessant destruction of existing infrastructure and triggers service blackouts with operators bearing additional costs of repair of replacing the fibre.
Also, the chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Mr Gbenga Adebayo, said operators should focus not just on digging once but on eliminating unnecessary digging altogether by sharing existing infrastructure and jointly replacing legacy cables.
“Early fibres laid 15 to 20 years ago are now ageing, and the industry needs a plan to replace them without everyone digging the same routes again,” he said.