Niger State has formally waived right-of-way (RoW) charges for fibre optic infrastructure, turning into the twelfth Nigerian state to implement the coverage to incentivise telecom operators and develop web entry.
The coverage, formalised in a authorities gazette dated September 2, 2024, and signed by Governor Muhammed Umar Bago, is a part of a broader effort to draw private-sector funding, lengthen web entry to distant communities, and digitise public providers. Below the brand new coverage, telecom operators pays a one-time, non-refundable software price of ₦500,000 ($311.80).
In accordance with Suleiman Isah, Niger State’s Commissioner for Communications Know-how and Digital Economic system, the price covers each preliminary community deployment and any future expansions.
“Even when an organization obtained its allow ten years in the past, they don’t seem to be required to pay once more for growth—simply notify the state,” Isah instructed TechCabal.
RoW charges—levied by state governments for laying fibre optic cables—have lengthy been a bottleneck to broadband growth throughout Nigeria, creating excessive entry prices for telecom operators like MTN Nigeria, Airtel Africa, and Globacom.
The trouble to harmonise Proper-of-Method charges started in 2013, when the Nationwide Govt Council (NEC) proposed a uniform price of ₦145 ($0.09) per linear metre. Nonetheless, adoption has been uneven, with solely round 35% of states lowering or waiving the charges.
Niger, the state with the fifth largest fibre infrastructure (3,681.66km), now joins the listing of states—Zamfara, Katsina, Anambra, Kebbi, Nasarawa, Bauchi, Adamawa, Kaduna, Ekiti, Imo, and Plateau—which have both eradicated or considerably decreased RoW prices to draw funding.
“A no-fee RoW coverage will appeal to substantial investments from telecommunication firms, resulting in expanded community protection, particularly in rural and underserved areas, and making a beneficial enterprise atmosphere that helps job creation and financial development,” Governor Bago mentioned within the gazette.
Niger hopes the waiver will encourage extra operators to spend money on fibre infrastructure and assist shut the connectivity hole in one among Nigeria’s largest and most underserved areas.