L-R : Director of Strategy, Huawei Technologies (Nigeria) Limited, Eric Chen; Chief Executive Officer, Dimension Data Limited, Gbenga Olabiyi; President, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Tony Emoekpere; Regional Coordinator for the South-West, Galaxy Backbone Limited, Olabisi Ibikunle; Team Lead at Business Metrics Limited (MBL), Omobayo Azeez; and Deputy Director, Strategic Business Initiatives, ipNX Nigeria, Sugun Okuneye at the 8th Policy Implementation Assisted Forum (PIAFo) on Dig-Once Policy organised by BML in Lagos on Thursday.
From Cyriacus Nnaji, Lagos
Stakeholders across the telecommunications and digital economy sector have reached consensus that adoption of Dig-Once Policy in Nigeria is the secret to attaining the 90,000km of additional fibre deployment ambition of the federal government.
The stakeholders made the call recently in Lagos at National Dig-Once Policy Forum which marked the 8th Policy Implementation Assisted Forum (PIAFo), where they urged federal and state authorities to adopt a coordinated framework for fibre deployment alongside road construction and other major public infrastructure.
The forum, themed “Accelerating Nigeria’s Digital Backbone: Dig-Once Policy, Project BRIDGE and Strategies for Effective Fibre Deployment,” focused on aligning infrastructure planning to improve broadband access, de-risk backbone infrastructure rollout and reduce network failures.
Dig-once policy as coordinated fibre deployment framework
Dig-once policy implementation involves installing fibre ducts alongside roads, rail lines and other public infrastructure during construction or rehabilitation. It allows multiple operators to deploy cables through shared ducts, reducing repeated digging, and the timeline and cost of delivering broadband to final users.
Convener of the forum, Omobayo Azeez, said the policy lowers deployment costs, reduces infrastructure damage, improves safety and shortens rollout timelines.
“At a time when Project BRIDGE is taking off, Dig-once stands out as the policy instrument that can significantly de-risk implementation and maximise long-term national value,” he said.
Project BRIDGE, a $2 billion federal government initiative backed by $500 million in World Bank funding, aims to deploy 90,000 kilometres of fibre nationwide to raise the digital economy backbone infrastructure from its current 35,000km to 125,000km of fibre by 2030.
Fragmented deployment, rising damage
The stakeholders described fibre infrastructure deployment in Nigeria as fragmented, expensive, and poorly protected.
President, Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria, Tony Emoekpere, said the challenge is not policy design but execution.
of existing road construction and building codes to accommodate fibre conduits installation in the original design standard of the infrastructure planning.
In addition, the Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), 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 that are reaching the end of their operational life.
“Early fibres laid 15 to 20 years ago are now ageing, and the industry needs a plan to replace it without everyone digging the same routes again,” he said.
CNII enforcement
On infrastructure protection, Mr Okuneye of ipNX said responsibility must fall at every level including government, operators, and local communities.
He noted that the National Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) is already working with the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) and the National Security and Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to enforce the Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII) order and prosecute those responsible for fibre cuts.
However, Head of Regulation and Public Relations at FibreOne Broadband Limited, Kenny Joda, said enforcement remains weak in practice.
According to him, his company experienced four separate fibre cuts in April alone, and that switching from iron conduits to cabinet-based protection have simply shifted the vandal’s target on cabinets.
