The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has called on road construction companies, contractors, engineers and other stakeholders to strengthen coordination and adopt preventive measures to protect fibre-optic cables during road construction, rehabilitation and other civil works across the country.
The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NCC, Dr Aminu Maida, made the call on Tuesday, August 11, 2026, at a stakeholders’ workshop on the protection of fibre-optic cables held at the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC), Office of the National Security Adviser, Abuja.
Maida said Nigeria’s drive to expand physical infrastructure must not undermine the digital infrastructure connecting Nigerians to information, services, markets and economic opportunities.
According to him, telecommunications infrastructure has become a critical national lifeline, supporting banking, government services, education, healthcare, commerce, security and emergency communications.
He warned that damage to fibre infrastructure could disrupt essential services and impose significant costs on citizens, businesses and the wider economy.
“To a machine operator on a construction site, it may appear to be one buried cable. To the nation, it can mean failed calls, stalled payments, interrupted services and missed opportunities,” Maida said.
The NCC boss disclosed that more than 5,000 fibre-cut incidents were recorded in the first six months of 2026 as a result of road construction, excavation and related civil works.
He recalled that in February 2024, fibre cuts, including those caused by road construction, resulted in an almost network-wide disruption for one telecommunications operator, affecting millions of users for several hours and putting additional pressure on other networks.
Maida stressed that the issue was not about assigning blame, noting that road contractors did not deliberately seek to disconnect communities, just as telecommunications operators did not intend to obstruct road construction.
Rather, he called for a dependable system of early coordination among telecommunications operators, contractors, government agencies and other stakeholders to prevent damage to fibre infrastructure.
“Our central message is simple: Nigeria must build the roads that connect our communities while protecting the fibre networks that connect our economy. We need both forms of infrastructure, and we need them to work together,” he said.
The NCC EVC disclosed that the Permanent Secretaries of the Federal Ministry of Works and the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy had inaugurated the Standing Committee on the Protection of Fibre Optic Cables.
According to him, the committee was established to develop practical coordination mechanisms before, during and after road construction works.
He further disclosed that the committee’s membership had recently been expanded to include representatives of the Office of the National Security Adviser, in recognition of the security implications of protecting telecommunications infrastructure.
Maida said telecommunications infrastructure had been designated as Critical National Information Infrastructure, stressing that the designation requires such infrastructure to be treated as national infrastructure and protected accordingly.
He added that appropriate legal, regulatory and remedial consequences would apply in cases of damage to the infrastructure.
The EVC urged telecommunications operators, contractors, government agencies, regulators and security agencies to play their respective roles in preventing fibre damage.
He stressed that coordination should become an integral part of the planning and execution of road construction and other civil works rather than an exception.
The NCC said the workshop was part of ongoing efforts to institutionalise coordination mechanisms that would safeguard telecommunications infrastructure, minimise service disruptions and support Nigeria’s digital transformation agenda.
