Nigeria has only 265,000 active fibre to the home subscriptions despite its internet subscriber base rising to 154.72 million, raising concerns over the country’s broadband ambitions. Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Dr Aminu Maida, disclosed this at the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria’s Critical Conversation Forum in Lagos, noting that Nigeria’s fibre to the home penetration remains below the African average and far behind global broadband markets.
Maida said broadband penetration increased to 55.67 per cent in April 2026, with Nigerians consuming an average of 1.4 million terabytes of data monthly. However, industry stakeholders blamed the slow rollout of fibre infrastructure on high right of way charges, multiple levies imposed by state agencies and communities, as well as persistent vandalism and theft of telecom facilities.
According to the NCC, telecom operators recorded more than 27,600 fibre cuts, over 27,000 cases of access denial and 4,210 theft incidents in 2025 alone. While 13 states have waived right of way charges and 16 others have adopted the approved national rate, operators insisted that additional levies and poor infrastructure protection continue to discourage investment in broadband expansion.
Stakeholders urged governments to strengthen legal protection for telecom infrastructure and support long term investment in fibre networks. They also highlighted the Federal Government’s Project BRIDGE, which aims to extend about 90,000 kilometres of fibre optic backbone across all 774 local government areas, describing fibre to the home connectivity as essential to achieving Nigeria’s digital economy and broadband targets.