The federal government says it will begin the rollout of its planned 90,000-kilometre fibre optic network within the next few weeks, marking a major step in its drive to expand broadband access and accelerate Nigeria’s digital transformation.
Gatekeepers News reports that Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, disclosed this on Tuesday after briefing President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
According to the minister, the government has completed resource mobilisation and contractual processes for the nationwide project, paving the way for physical deployment.
“We’re now at the point where, in a few weeks’ time, we should start to lay those fibre, so people will start seeing us around the country deploying the fibre. This is going to transform Nigeria for good,” Tijani said.
He explained that the project would extend fibre optic infrastructure across every state, geopolitical zone, local government area and ward, significantly improving internet connectivity nationwide.
“This is a project where every state, every geopolitical zone, every local government and every ward in this country will be covered with fibre optic cables, which will transform the quality of connectivity,” he said.
Tijani credited recent improvements in Nigeria’s telecommunications sector to reforms introduced by the Tinubu administration, including the designation of digital infrastructure as critical national infrastructure, adjustments to telecom tariffs and efforts to harmonise taxes.
The minister also revealed that the federal government plans to commence the deployment of about 3,700 telecommunications towers from October to expand mobile network coverage in underserved communities.
He said the initiative, which has received presidential approval, is expected to provide reliable connectivity to more than 20 million Nigerians who currently lack adequate network access.
“Before the end of the year, we’ll also start to deploy close to 3,700 towers. It’s taken a lot putting this project together, raising the capital for it, but we are at a point where we should now start deploying around October,” he said.
Tijani further announced that Nigeria will launch a new alphanumeric postcode system on October 1, assigning a unique address to every property across the country.
He said the new addressing system is designed to improve logistics, strengthen e-commerce, enhance emergency response services and support more efficient public service delivery.
“The alphanumeric postcode is unique because it allows us to have unique addresses for every property. That will change the game significantly for Nigeria in terms of the delivery of public services,” the minister said.
