July 9 (THEWILL) — Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) account for more than 18 percent of Nigeria’s fibre-optic network, highlighting the concentration of digital infrastructure in the country’s commercial and administrative hubs, while many states continue to lag in broadband deployment.
Data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) showed Lagos leads with 11,586.70 kilometres of deployed fibre, representing 11.46 percent of the national network, supported by 7,996 Base Transceiver Stations (BTS). The FCT follows with 6,973.13km, accounting for 6.89 percent of total fibre infrastructure and 2,884 BTS sites.
Together, the two locations host more fibre infrastructure than many geopolitical zones, reflecting their concentration of businesses, government institutions, financial services, data centres and internet traffic.
Other states with relatively extensive fibre networks include Edo (4,789.72km), Kano (4,616.71km), Rivers (4,616.01km), Kaduna (4,339.85km) and Ogun (4,246.48km). At the other end of the scale are Bayelsa (656.87km), Ebonyi (586.92km), Jigawa (970.10km), Borno (1,012.52km) and Zamfara (1,100.98km), while more than a dozen states have less than 2,000km of fibre deployment.
Industry stakeholders attribute the uneven distribution largely to the high cost of Right of Way (RoW) permits required to lay fibre cables. Although the National Economic Council approved a harmonised RoW fee of ₦145 per linear metre in 2020, implementation has remained inconsistent. NCC data shows Ogun charges ₦6,600 per metre, followed by Kano at ₦2,745 and Delta at ₦2,706.
To bridge the infrastructure gap, the Federal Government is advancing Project BRIDGE, a 90,000-kilometre national fibre initiative backed by financing from the African Development Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. However, industry operators say the project’s success will depend on state governments adopting investor-friendly RoW policies and addressing challenges such as multiple levies, fibre vandalism and damage caused by road construction.
This version keeps the news peg upfront, spaces out the data instead of lumping it together, and ends with the government’s response and stakeholder concerns the standard business desk structure.
Ogochukwu Onwaeze is a writer specializing in business and economic journalism. At THEWILL News Media, she translates market trends, financial developments, and policy shifts into clear and engaging stories.
