It’ll cost $2bn to lay fibre cables across Nigeria — Minister

Minister of Communications, Innovations and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, says it will cost about $2bn to lay fibre optics cables across Nigeria.

The minister, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Tuesday, also said advanced technology, the Fifth-Generation (5G) network, exists in Nigeria.

He, however, said the infrastructure that supports the advanced technology is not everywhere in the country.

He said it would cost about $2bn to wire the whole of Nigeria for the seamless experience of the 5G network.

“We do in some places,” he said when asked whether 5G exists in Nigeria.

“The infrastructure that drives 5G is not something that is across the nation.

“So, if you are subscribe to 5G and you move into locations where the infrastructure cannot support it, of course, the quality will drop. 5G exists in Nigeria and there are telcos with the licence,” the minister said.

Tijani said the government is doing everything possible to increase the kilometre of fibre optics cables in Nigeria.

“We are about 35 to 40 kilometres right now and the goal is to go to 95,000 km,” he said. “It’s going to cost us roughly about $1.5bn to $2bn to wire the entire of Nigeria.”

The minister hoped that under his leadership, the ministry, would in the first four years of the President Bola Tinubu administration, achieve the aspiration of wiring Nigeria.

He said the current government want to connect schools, hospitals, government offices and other vital places with fibre cables. “Because once we can do this, we start to see changes in the delivery of public services,” the minister said.

Tijani said he is working on declaring telecoms infrastructure as critical national assets to prevent the vandalism.