Nigeria’s drive to expand and rehabilitate road infrastructure is increasingly putting pressure on the country’s digital connectivity backbone, with more than 5,000 fibre-optic cable cuts recorded in the first half of 2026 as road construction, excavation and related civil works continue to damage telecommunications infrastructure.
The repeated incidents are not only threatening connectivity but are also increasing operational costs for telecom operators, weakening network resilience and disrupting services relied upon by millions of Nigerians.
The financial burden has been significant. According to industry figures, telecom operators spent about N14 billion repairing approximately 59,000 fibre cuts recorded between 2022 and 2023, while the total cost rose to about N27 billion in 2023 when revenue losses arising from service disruptions were included.
MTN Nigeria also spent more than N11 billion during the same period relocating over 2,500 kilometres of vulnerable fibre infrastructure, highlighting the substantial investment required by operators to protect networks from damage.
The recurring problem has again come under scrutiny as the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) pushes for stronger coordination between road construction companies, government agencies, engineers, telecom operators and other stakeholders involved in excavation and civil works.
Speaking at a stakeholders’ workshop on the protection of fibre-optic cables held at the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Office of the National Security Adviser in Abuja, Aminu Maida, executive vice chairman and chief executive officer of the NCC, said the country’s expansion of physical infrastructure must not undermine the digital infrastructure connecting Nigerians to information, services, markets and opportunities.
According to Maida, more than 5,000 fibre-cut incidents were recorded in the first six months of 2026 as a result of road construction, excavation and related civil works.
He said communications infrastructure had become a critical national lifeline, underpinning banking, government services, education, healthcare, commerce, security and emergency communications.
“To a machine operator on a construction site, it may appear to be one buried cable. To the nation, it can mean failed calls, stalled payments, interrupted services and missed opportunities,” Maida said, highlighting the wider consequences of damage to fibre infrastructure.
He said the challenge should not be viewed primarily as a dispute between road contractors and telecommunications operators, noting that no contractor deliberately seeks to disconnect a community, just as telecom operators do not intend to obstruct road construction.
Rather, he stressed the need for a dependable system of early coordination among all stakeholders before construction and excavation activities begin.
The NCC EVC recalled the major telecommunications disruption in February 2024, when fibre cuts, including those caused by road construction, resulted in an almost network-wide disruption for one telecommunications operator, affecting millions of users for several hours and placing additional pressure on other networks.
He said the incident demonstrated the far-reaching consequences that damage to telecommunications infrastructure can have on citizens, businesses and public institutions.
Infrastructure coordination
Against this backdrop, the permanent secretaries of the federal ministry of works and the federal ministry of communications, innovation and digital economy have inaugurated the Standing Committee on the Protection of Fibre Optic Cables to develop practical coordination mechanisms before, during and after road construction and other civil works.
Maida further disclosed that the committee’s membership had recently been expanded to include representatives of the Office of the National Security Adviser, reflecting the security implications of protecting telecommunications infrastructure, which has been designated as Critical National Information Infrastructure.
He explained that the designation requires telecommunications infrastructure to be treated as national infrastructure and protected accordingly, with appropriate legal, regulatory and remedial consequences for damage.
The EVC urged telecom operators, contractors, government agencies, regulators and security agencies to play their respective roles in preventing fibre damage, stressing that coordination must become an integral part of the planning and execution of relevant projects.
“Nigeria must build the roads that connect our communities while protecting the fibre networks that connect our economy. We need both forms of infrastructure, and we need them to work together,” he said.
He urged participants at the workshop to develop practical measures that would make coordination standard practice rather than the exception.
On his part, Olarinre Adeladan, permanent secretary, Federal Ministry of Works, said road construction and telecommunications infrastructure often occupy the same physical space, making coordination between the two sectors necessary.
Adeladan called for improved mapping of underground utilities and accurate information on the location of fibre cables before excavation begins.
He said cable cuts result in disruption of critical services, loss of productivity, financial losses and inconvenience to Nigerians, stressing that “appropriate mapping and coordination with telecommunications operators” were necessary to prevent damage to fibre infrastructure.
