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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Technology

NCC, stakeholders move to end repeated road digging for fibre

From The Punch · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and stakeholders are developing a pricing framework for sharing underground telecom ducts under the 'Dig Once' policy.
  • This initiative aims to reduce repeated road excavations for fibre deployment and lower broadband costs nationwide.
  • The framework seeks to promote infrastructure sharing, accelerate fibre rollout, and ensure efficient use of national resources.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), in collaboration with relevant stakeholders, is spearheading efforts to eliminate the recurring issue of road excavation for fibre-optic cable deployment. The core of this initiative is the development of a cost-based pricing framework for sharing underground telecom ducts, aligning with the Federal Government’s 'Dig Once' policy.

The Dig Once Policy remains one of the Federal Government’s strategic interventions for accelerating fibre infrastructure development, reducing the cost of broadband expansion, preventing unnecessary road excavation and promoting efficient use of national resources.

— Nadungu GagareThe Permanent Secretary highlights the strategic importance of the Dig Once policy for Nigeria's digital infrastructure.

Unveiled at the Second Stakeholders’ Forum in Abuja, this strategy is designed to significantly reduce the costs associated with broadband deployment. By encouraging infrastructure sharing, the policy aims to accelerate the nationwide rollout of fibre optics and prevent the wasteful, repeated digging up of roads. The 'Dig Once' policy mandates that telecom ducts be installed during road construction or rehabilitation, allowing multiple operators to utilize existing underground infrastructure.

However, its full potential can only be realised when supported by a pricing framework that is transparent, commercially viable, equitable and encourages infrastructure sharing.

— Nadungu GagareGagare explains the necessity of a robust pricing framework for the successful implementation of the Dig Once policy.

Nadungu Gagare, Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, emphasized that the 'Dig Once' policy is a strategic intervention to deepen digital infrastructure and improve broadband access. He stated that its full potential hinges on a transparent, commercially viable, and equitable pricing framework that actively promotes infrastructure sharing. Such a framework, he believes, will bolster investor confidence while protecting public interest.

Our collective objective should be to establish a framework that promotes collaboration rather than duplication, efficiency rather than waste, and sustainable growth rather than short-term gains.

— Nadungu GagareGagare outlines the desired outcomes of the collaborative effort to develop the pricing framework.

Ayuba Shuaibu, Director of Policy, Competition and Economic Analysis at the NCC, noted that the absence of a pricing mechanism for shared ducts was identified as a major gap in the initial 'Dig Once' policy. The ongoing study aims to provide a structured, cost-based framework that ensures fair access and supports sustainable infrastructure development. This move is crucial for realizing the policy's objectives of efficiency, fairness, and investment protection in the telecommunications sector.

The Dig Once initiative is fundamentally aimed at reducing the cost and complexity of network deployment by promoting coordinated civil works and the shared use of underground duct infrastructure.

— Ayuba ShuaibuShuaibu describes the core purpose of the Dig Once initiative in simplifying network deployment.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by The Punch. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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