Road construction and excavation blamed for repeated damage to critical telecom infrastructure as regulators demand better coordination…..
Nigeria recorded more than 5,000 incidents of fibre-optic cable cuts in the first six months of 2026, with the telecommunications regulator blaming road excavation, construction and other civil works for a large proportion of the disruptions.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said the repeated damage to fibre infrastructure was threatening the reliability of digital services and creating costs that extend well beyond telecommunications companies.
NCC Executive Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Aminu Maida, disclosed the figure on Tuesday at a stakeholders’ workshop focused on protecting telecommunications infrastructure during road construction and other civil works.
“Over 5,000 fibre cut incidents were reported on road excavation, construction, and related civil work,” Maida said.
According to him, many of the incidents could have been avoided if road contractors, telecommunications operators and relevant government agencies had properly coordinated their activities before excavation began.
He warned that the consequences of a damaged fibre cable go far beyond the cost of repairing the network.
A fibre cut can interrupt banking transactions, government operations, healthcare services, education, commerce and security activities that increasingly depend on reliable digital connectivity.
“To a machine operator on a construction site, it may appear to be one buried cable. To the nation, it can mean failed calls, poor payments, interrupted services, and missed opportunities,” Maida said.
He argued that stakeholders needed to shift from a system focused primarily on repairing damaged infrastructure to one that prioritises preventing cable damage in the first place.
Maida said the recurring incidents were largely the result of insufficient communication between construction companies and telecom operators before work commenced.
He stressed that neither road construction nor telecommunications expansion should be treated as competing interests.
“No road contractor sets out to disconnect the community. No telecommunications operator wants to obstruct the building of a road. No public agency wants one vital national project to undermine another. Our interests are aligned,” he said.
The NCC chief said the immediate requirement was a reliable system for sharing information before excavation takes place.
Under such a system, telecom operators would be expected to provide accurate information about the routes of underground fibre infrastructure, while contractors would verify cable locations and incorporate protection measures into their construction plans.
“Operators must share accurate routes information and respond promptly,” Maida said.
“Contractors must check before excavation and plan for protection. Government agencies must support timely information exchange.”
The scale of the problem has also raised national security concerns.
Effiom Ewa, Director of Critical National Security and Infrastructure Protection at the Office of the National Security Adviser, said fibre-optic infrastructure had been designated as critical national information infrastructure.
He warned that damage caused through negligence or deliberate interference could have legal consequences under Nigeria’s existing framework.
Ewa urged contractors and telecommunications operators to comply with established procedures whenever construction, excavation or maintenance work is being carried out around telecom infrastructure.
“Every fibre-optic cable damage is more than a disruption to a network, or simply a cable cut,” he said.
“It is indeed a disruption to governance, economic productivity, public services, and daily lives of Nigerians.”
The designation reflects the growing importance of fibre networks to the country’s economy, as internet connectivity increasingly supports financial services, government platforms, businesses, healthcare, education and other essential services.
The Federal Ministry of Works also called for improved mapping of underground infrastructure to reduce the risk of accidental cable damage during road projects.
The ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Olarinre Adeladan, said roads and telecommunications infrastructure frequently occupy the same physical space, making cooperation between the two sectors unavoidable.
He called for more accurate information on the location of underground fibre cables before excavation and other construction activities begin.
According to Adeladan, every cable cut can result in service disruptions, lost productivity, financial costs and inconvenience for millions of Nigerians.
He said better mapping, combined with early engagement with telecommunications operators, would significantly reduce the likelihood of infrastructure being damaged during road construction.
“Appropriate mapping and coordination with telecommunications operators” are necessary to prevent damage to fibre infrastructure, Adeladan said.
The Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy said the repeated destruction of fibre infrastructure was also putting pressure on investments in Nigeria’s broadband network.
The ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Nadungu Gagare, represented at the event by Stanley Musa, Director of Telecommunications and Postal Services, said frequent fibre cuts increase operating costs for telecom companies, weaken network resilience and disrupt services used by millions of Nigerians.
He said the Federal Government had established a tripartite standing committee on the protection of fibre-optic infrastructure.
The committee is expected to improve coordination between government agencies, telecommunications operators and other stakeholders involved in road construction and infrastructure development.
The move comes as Nigeria continues to expand its digital infrastructure and increase broadband connectivity across the country.
With thousands of fibre cuts already recorded in the first half of the year, regulators and government agencies are now pushing for a more preventive approach.
For the NCC, the central issue is no longer simply how quickly a damaged cable can be repaired. It is how effectively construction projects can be planned so that critical fibre infrastructure is identified and protected before excavation begins.
The regulator’s message is increasingly clear: as fibre networks become essential to the functioning of Nigeria’s economy, damaging an underground cable is no longer just a telecommunications problem it can quickly become a national economic disruption.
