ATCON Forum: Fibre Theft, Low Penetration Threaten Nigeria’s FTTH Push – Stakeholders

• Industry players, telecoms regulator flag fibre theft, right-of-way costs as barriers to broadband expansion

Nigeria recorded more than 27,600 fibre cable cut incidents and 4,210 cases of cable theft in 2025, the country’s telecoms regulator said on Tuesday, underscoring the infrastructure risks weighing on the West African nation’s push to expand broadband access.

Dr. Aminu Maida, executive vice chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), said the figures, which also included more than 27,000 cases of access denial to telecoms infrastructure had informed the government’s decision to designate telecoms infrastructure as Critical National Information Infrastructure, a status intended to give it stronger legal protection.

Speaking at a Critical Conversation Forum on FTTH organised by the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) in Lagos, Maida said Nigeria’s fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) penetration remains low despite rapid growth in overall internet use, with roughly 265,000 active FTTH subscriptions nationwide as of the forum date.

That puts Nigeria below the African average FTTH penetration rate of 2.5%, and far behind the 47% average seen in more mature broadband markets globally, Maida said.

Nigeria had 154.72 million active internet subscriptions as of April 2026, up from 141.99 million a year earlier, while broadband penetration rose to 55.67% from 48.81% over the same period, according to NCC data cited by Maida.

As of March 2026, 4G accounted for 53.76% of mobile generation market share and 5G for 4.20%, with older network technologies continuing to decline.

Nigerians consumed an average of about 1.4 million terabytes of data monthly over the preceding six months, Maida said.

Right-of-way costs, backbone expansion

The NCC is conducting a Wholesale Fixed Broadband Market Assessment aimed at improving infrastructure sharing and affordability in the wholesale fixed broadband market, Maida said.

Thirteen of Nigeria’s 36 states have fully waived right-of-way charges for telecoms operators, while 16 others have adopted a recommended rate of 145 naira per linear metre set by the National Economic Council, he said.

Maida also pointed to Project BRIDGE, a federal initiative to extend Nigeria’s national fibre backbone by about 90,000 kilometres to reach all 774 local government areas. Design work has begun on 40,000 kilometres of that network, he said.

Tony Emoekpere, president of ATCON, drew attention to the rapid growth of investment in fibre-to-the-home infrastructure in Nigeria and commended ipNX Nigeria Limited for international recognition as an early pioneer of FTTH deployment in the country.

He identified infrastructure sharing as one of the most pressing unresolved issues facing the industry, questioning whether adequate standards or frameworks currently exist to govern the volume of infrastructure deployed on shared rights-of-way and utility poles, and cited poor cable management practices on poles as a visible and urgent industry challenge requiring coordinated action.

He stated that mobile networks are not designed to deliver full broadband, positioning FTTH and other last-mile fibre technologies as the only sustainable route to achieving national broadband penetration targets, and called on the industry to move toward greater self-regulation on infrastructure sharing standards rather than waiting for regulatory intervention.

Speaking during a panel session, examining the alignment of policy and regulatory frameworks across federal and state government in support of FTTH deployment, Mr. Biodun Omoniyi, MD/CEO of VDT Communications Limited, welcomed the growing number of states waiving right-of-way charges but cautioned that RoW represents only a fraction of the total cost of service delivery, and urged state governments to go further by legislating protective frameworks for licensed infrastructure, particularly to guard against damage arising from uncoordinated public works.

Responding to a question on ATCON’s role in driving alignment, Mr Segun Okuneye, chairman CleanUp Committee at ATCON, stated that the association is actively engaging government to reposition right-of-way away from being treated purely as a source of internally generated revenue, and toward being recognised as an enabler of digital economic activity, noting that thriving businesses ultimately generate more sustainable tax revenue for government.

On his part, Mr Egerton Idehen, chief broadband officer, MTN Nigeria, called for durable, long-term policy support to sustain network investment, citing FTTH penetration of approximately 1.5 per cent against Nigeria’s housing stock as critically low.

He identified right-of-way charges from state governments, alongside informal levies from community development associations (CDAs) and land-owning interests (Omo-onile meaning ‘land grabbers’), as compounding cost burdens requiring government intervention, and called additionally for sustained infrastructure quality standards and stronger customer education to support investment confidence.

Mr John Nwachukwu, chief strategy and executive officer, Zora Communications Limited, addressing the transition from policy to implementation, particularly regarding Dig-Once policy, observed that regulation frequently lags behind deployment in practice, and called for stronger collective commitment among stakeholders, framing infrastructure protection not as a revenue question but as a matter of socio-economic impact requiring urgent, coordinated action.

In response to a question from Engineer Kazeem on uncoordinated pole-mounting by FTTH operators, panellists indicated that monitoring and alignment to required deployment standards is ongoing.

Mr Adetola Akinmade, chief technology officer, FiberOne, addressing the framework needed to protect telecommunications infrastructure now that it has been designated Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII), stated that telecoms infrastructure must be recognised as a national asset, and called for the establishment of a Digital Utility Corridor standard, alongside stronger public awareness and enforcement.

Responding to a question on the concentration of FTTH deployment in urban areas, panellists noted that fibre deployment remains highly capital-intensive, with project economics varying significantly between locations, such that a uniform national policy is unlikely to suit all markets.

It was further noted that even in states that have waived right-of-way charges, multiple agencies continue to impose other levies, and panellists called for nationally coordinated policy with the buy-in of sub-national government to close this gap.

The session as moderated Mr Adeyemi Adepetun, deputy business editor, Guardian Newspapers.

Continue reading content on ATCON FTTH Forum, click here.

The post ATCON Forum: Fibre Theft, Low Penetration Threaten Nigeria’s FTTH Push – Stakeholders appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.