The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has recorded more than 5,000 fibre-optic cable cuts in the first six months of 2026, with road construction, excavation and other civil works accounting for a significant share of the incidents.
Aminu Maida, Executive Vice-Chairman of the NCC, disclosed this on Tuesday at a stakeholders’ workshop on the protection of fibre-optic cables during road construction and rehabilitation activities.
Maida said the repeated damage to fibre infrastructure posed a growing risk to telecommunications services and was increasing costs for operators, businesses and consumers.
“The scale is significant. In the first six months of this year alone, over 5,000 fibre-cut incidents were recorded from road construction, excavation and related civil works,” he said.
According to him, the problem is largely linked to inadequate coordination between telecommunications operators, construction companies and government agencies before road projects begin.
Maida said the impact of fibre cuts extended beyond telecommunications companies because the infrastructure supports several critical areas of Nigeria’s economy.
He identified banking, government services, education, healthcare, commerce, security and emergency communications among the sectors that could be affected when fibre infrastructure is damaged.
The NCC chief recalled that fibre cuts in late February 2024, including damage caused by road construction, contributed to an almost network-wide disruption for one telecommunications operator.
Millions of subscribers were unable to make calls, send messages or access the internet for several hours during the incident.
The subsequent migration of affected subscribers to other networks also created congestion, Maida said, highlighting the potential for infrastructure damage affecting one operator to create wider disruptions across the telecommunications ecosystem.
Maida said the solution was not to restrict road construction but to establish a more reliable system for coordinating infrastructure projects.
“No road contractor sets out to disconnect a community. No telecommunications operator wants to obstruct the building of a road. No public agency wants one vital national project to undermine another,” he said.
“Our interests are aligned; what has too often been missing is a dependable system of early coordination.”
To address the problem, the Permanent Secretaries of the Federal Ministry of Works and the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy have inaugurated a Standing Committee on the Protection of Fibre Optic Cables.
The committee is expected to develop coordination mechanisms covering activities before, during and after road construction and rehabilitation projects.
Maida said the committee had also been expanded to include officials from the Office of the National Security Adviser to provide additional strategic oversight.
The NCC chief said telecommunications infrastructure had been designated as Critical National Information Infrastructure, increasing the responsibility of companies and individuals working around fibre-optic networks.
He said construction companies, engineers, contractors and site supervisors must understand their responsibilities when carrying out excavation and other activities around telecom infrastructure.
Maida said the designation was intended to promote proper planning, due care and accountability rather than criminalise legitimate construction activities.
The development comes as Nigeria continues to expand its broadband infrastructure, with fibre-optic networks increasingly serving as the backbone for high-speed internet and other digital services.
However, much of the fibre infrastructure is buried along road corridors, exposing it to damage from road expansion, rehabilitation, drainage works and other excavation activities.
Nadungu Gagare, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, represented by Stanley Musa, Director of Telecoms and Postal Services, described the protection of fibre infrastructure as a shared national responsibility.
Gagare said repeated fibre cuts could undermine the government’s efforts to expand broadband infrastructure by disrupting essential services and increasing operating costs for telecommunications companies.
He also warned that persistent damage could affect investment in Nigeria’s digital economy.
The ministry, he said, had been working with relevant stakeholders to strengthen compliance with right-of-way regulations and improve coordination around telecommunications infrastructure.
Gagare also recalled that the National Economic Council had approved a memorandum on the harmonisation of right-of-way charges.
The council also directed the ministry to develop standards and guidelines for shared infrastructure, including the proposed “dig once” approach, which is intended to reduce repeated excavation of roads for infrastructure deployment.
Air Vice Marshal Effiom Enebong Ewa, Director, Critical National Assets and Infrastructure Protection at the Office of the National Security Adviser, said the consequences of fibre damage went beyond technical service disruptions.
According to Ewa, damage to fibre infrastructure could affect governance, economic productivity, public services and the daily lives of Nigerians.
He noted that fibre-optic infrastructure’s designation as Critical National Information Infrastructure means negligence, interference or activities that expose such assets to damage could constitute offences under Nigerian law.
Ewa urged contractors, government institutions, telecommunications operators and other stakeholders to comply with established procedures when carrying out construction and maintenance activities around critical infrastructure.
The scale of the reported incidents highlights a growing infrastructure challenge for Nigeria’s digital economy.
As telecommunications companies invest in expanding fibre networks to support broadband, cloud services, digital payments and other data-intensive services, damage to the physical infrastructure creates both direct repair costs and wider economic losses from service interruptions.
