The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and other industry stakeholders have begun efforts to stop the repeated digging up of roads during fibre-optic network expansion by creating a cost-based pricing system for sharing underground telecom ducts under the Federal Government’s Dig Once policy.
The initiative was unveiled at the Second Stakeholders’ Forum on the Consultancy Study for the Development of a Pricing Mechanism and Cost-Based Structure for Sharing Ducts under the Dig Once Policy, held in Abuja on Wednesday.
The proposed framework is expected to reduce broadband deployment expenses, encourage infrastructure sharing and speed up fibre network expansion across Nigeria.
The Dig Once policy is designed to ensure that telecommunications ducts are installed alongside road construction and rehabilitation projects, allowing multiple telecom operators to use existing underground facilities for fibre deployment rather than repeatedly excavating roads.
Speaking at the forum, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Nadungu Gagare, said the initiative was part of government’s broader plan to strengthen digital infrastructure and expand broadband accessibility.
He said, “The Dig Once Policy remains one of the Federal Government’s strategic interventions for accelerating fibre infrastructure development, reducing the cost of broadband expansion, preventing unnecessary road excavation and promoting efficient use of national resources.
“However, its full potential can only be realised when supported by a pricing framework that is transparent, commercially viable, equitable and encourages infrastructure sharing.”
Gagare said the proposed pricing structure would help attract investors while ensuring that public interest remained protected.
“Our collective objective should be to establish a framework that promotes collaboration rather than duplication, efficiency rather than waste, and sustainable growth rather than short-term gains,” he said.
Earlier, the Director of Policy, Competition and Economic Analysis at the NCC, Ayuba Shuaibu, disclosed that the commission engaged consultants in 2023 to develop a pricing mechanism following the absence of a clear structure for shared ducts in the draft Dig Once policy.
According to him, “The Dig Once initiative is fundamentally aimed at reducing the cost and complexity of network deployment by promoting coordinated civil works and the shared use of underground duct infrastructure.”
He noted that without an effective pricing framework, “the objectives of efficiency, fairness and investment protection may not be fully realised.”
Shuaibu explained that the study would create “a structured and cost-based framework that ensures equitable access while supporting sustainable infrastructure development across the sector.”
He added that the commission had reached a stage where stakeholders would examine the consultant’s recommendations and proposed pricing model before the final framework is approved.
“The commission remains committed to a transparent, inclusive and consultative process. Our objective is to arrive at a pricing structure that balances the interests of infrastructure providers, access seekers and, ultimately, consumers, while also encouraging continued investment in broadband infrastructure,” he said.
Delivering the keynote address, Managing Director of Dimension Data Nigeria, Olugbenga Olabiyi, represented by the company’s Lead Solutions Architect and Head of IT Systems and Infrastructure, Akpevwe Egbelughe, identified repeated civil works as one of the major challenges limiting broadband growth in Nigeria.
He said, “The principle behind the Dig Once Policy is simple, yet transformational. Whenever roads are constructed, rehabilitated or opened for maintenance, provisions should simultaneously be made for telecommunications ducts and conduit systems.”
He added, “By embedding appropriately sized conduit infrastructure during road construction, multiple operators can subsequently deploy fibre through existing ducts without repeatedly excavating the same roads.”
Olabiyi said the policy would help reduce operators’ capital expenses, shorten deployment periods, limit traffic disruptions and environmental damage, preserve public infrastructure and increase broadband coverage.
He stressed that infrastructure sharing could only work effectively when supported by fairness, transparency and strong market regulation.
“The framework should allow infrastructure owners to recover investments and earn reasonable returns while ensuring that access seekers can deploy services at costs that encourage network expansion, competition and innovation,” he said.
READ ALSO: NCC Directs Telcos To Compensate Subscribers For Poor Network Service
He also recommended the creation of a National Passive Infrastructure Registry to provide information on available ducts, unused capacity and ownership details, as well as a digital platform where operators could request, lease and manage duct access.
Olabiyi further highlighted the importance of cooperation between federal and state governments, saying a coordinated Right of Way system would be essential to achieving the policy’s objectives.
Speaking on Cross River State’s experience, the state Commissioner for Science and Technology, Justin Beshel, said the state had introduced a shared duct arrangement with the NCC in 2012 and supported the proposed nationwide pricing framework.
He disclosed that Cross River partnered with the commission to develop about 120 kilometres of fibre backbone, with ownership of the ducts shared between both parties.
“We are particularly happy to be part of this structure, especially concerning the sharing formula and the cost-based structure for sharing the ducts built under this Dig Once policy,” Beshel said.
He expressed optimism that the framework would help reduce disagreements between government authorities and infrastructure providers.
The Director-General of the Oyo State Infrastructure Management and Control Agency, Adebayo Akande, said the pricing model must consider the realities of states, where roads and rights of way are managed.
He said, “Dig Once, as we all know, at its heart, is a promise to those communities that we will open the ground once, will share what lies beneath, so that we do not tear the same street open five times for five operators as it used to be.”
Akande warned that an ineffective pricing structure could undermine the policy, explaining that prices set too low could affect maintenance while excessive charges could discourage infrastructure sharing.
“The pricing mechanism for shared ducts has two ways to fail, and both are fatal. If we price it too low, there’s no revenue to maintain the asset, and the duct degrades. If we price it too high, we just build a tollgate, and we defeat the purpose,” he said.
He added that Oyo State had already implemented a harmonised Right of Way framework and was prepared to assist the NCC in executing the national policy.
The stakeholders’ forum was part of the NCC’s ongoing consultations aimed at establishing a cost-based pricing framework for shared telecom duct infrastructure under the Dig Once initiative.
The final framework is expected to improve access to underground telecom facilities, reduce repeated road excavation, promote investment and support faster broadband expansion nationwide.