The Nigerian Communications Commission and industry stakeholders have begun developing a cost-based pricing framework for sharing underground telecom ducts as part of the Federal Government’s Dig Once policy aimed at ending repeated road excavation for fibre-optic deployment.
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 policy requires telecommunications ducts to be installed whenever roads are constructed or rehabilitated, enabling multiple operators to deploy fibre through existing underground infrastructure instead of repeatedly digging up roads.
Speaking at the forum, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Nadungu Gagare, said the policy was designed to deepen digital infrastructure and expand broadband access nationwide.
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 noted that the proposed framework would improve investor confidence while protecting public interest.
“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 added.
The NCC’s Director of Policy, Competition and Economic Analysis, Ayuba Shuaibu, said the commission engaged consultants in 2023 to address the lack of a pricing model for shared ducts, describing it as a major gap 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 added that without a defined pricing structure, “the objectives of efficiency, fairness and investment protection may not be fully realised.”
Shuaibu said the study would provide “a structured and cost-based framework that ensures equitable access while supporting sustainable infrastructure development across the sector,” adding that stakeholders were reviewing the consultant’s recommendations before the framework is finalised.
“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.
In a keynote address, the 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 engineering works as a major obstacle to broadband expansion.
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.”
“By embedding appropriately sized conduit infrastructure during road construction, multiple operators can subsequently deploy fibre through existing ducts without repeatedly excavating the same roads,” he added.
Olabiyi said the policy would cut operators’ costs, speed up network deployment, reduce traffic disruption, protect public infrastructure and boost broadband penetration.
He stressed that infrastructure sharing would only succeed where access is based on fairness and transparency, adding, “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 also proposed creating a National Passive Infrastructure Registry and a digital marketplace for managing shared duct capacity.
Cross River State Commissioner for Science and Technology, Justin Beshel, welcomed the initiative, noting that the state pioneered a shared duct arrangement with the NCC in 2012.
“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,” he said.
Similarly, the Director-General of the Oyo State Infrastructure Management and Control Agency, Adebayo Akande, urged that the pricing framework reflect realities at the state level.
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, “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.”
The proposed framework is expected to promote fair access to underground telecom infrastructure, reduce repeated road excavation, encourage investment and accelerate broadband deployment across Nigeria.
