In order to protect Nigeria’s telecommunications infrastructure from an attack on fiber cuts, theft of equipment and vandalism, the country’s telecommunications operators have united to form a working group of the industry dedicated to its protection.
The initiative unveiled following a meeting of high -level stakeholders organized by IHS Nigeria at its registered office in Lagos, underlines the climbing of the operational challenges of the industry – which contributed to the recent price increase of 50% of the costs of spiral.
The working group, established under the aegis of the association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (Alton), emerged from a gathering of industry leaders, regulators and law enforcement organizations. According to a press release from operators, the coalition was forged in recognition of telecommunications as a song of national security, economic growth and social cohesion – a vital asset now threatened implacable.
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The industry working group is responsible for confronting a series of industry scourges: vandalism and theft of telecommunications assets, arbitrary closures of basic stations, fiber cuts triggered by road construction and unauthorized access to sites by individuals. To counter them, the group will deploy advanced technologies for real -time monitoring and protection, strengthen security around telecommunications facilities and forge partnerships with security and regulatory agencies to suppress delinquents.
Beyond the application, the initiative prioritizes public awareness, with campaign plans to raise awareness of reception communities and the broader population on the need to protect these critical assets.
Dapo Otunla, senior vice-president and director of corporate services for IHS Nigeria, praised the effort as a long-term response to a Purre crisis.
“The protection of the National Critical Information Information (CNII) was an essential concern for all stakeholders in the industry,” said Ounla. “We are undergoing daily asset losses, which has a significant impact on the quality of service provided to subscribers. The resolution of these problems is essential to maintain Nigeria’s digital ecosystem and meet regulatory expectations. ”
Its remarks have exposed the assessment of uncontrolled vandalism: the quality of the degraded service, the mounting repair invoices and a short -off digital ecosystem at the edge of the edge.
The training of the working group occurs while Nigerian telecommunications operators struggle with a perfect storm of operational obstacles, damage to infrastructure increases costs at an alarming rate. The initiates of the industry highlight the fiber cuts – sometimes occurring several times a day – as a main culprit, alongside the flight of equipment such as generators and copper cables.
These incidents have forced companies to pay billions of nairas in repairs and replacements, a burden aggravated by the outbreak of fuel prices, the depreciation of currencies and regulatory costs. This financial tension was a key engine of the increase in prices of 50% approved by the Nigerian Commission Commission (NCC) at the beginning of 2025, a move defended as essential to their survival, but which aroused a generalized game of consumers faced with economic difficulties.
The tariff hike, while strengthening operators’ income, has intensified public control of industry inability to curb infrastructure threats, making the mission of the working group even more urgent.
A push to apply CNII protections
The initiative also reflects a proactive surge in telecommunications companies to infuse life into the Critical National Infrastructure Policy (CNII), which was wired despite the very publicized mentions. In August 2024, President Bola Tinubu signed the `Designation and protection of the Critical National Information Information Order, 2024,“ classify telecommunications assets like CNII and criminalize their voluntary destruction.
Dr. Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications, Innovation and the Digital Economy, praised the Gazette as an “important step” to strengthen ICT investments. However, he reflects a previous and swords effort: in June 2020, Dr. Isa Pantami, then the then minister, announced a similar designation by former President Muhammadu Buhari, with guidelines for physical guarantees. This statement failed to stop daily vandalism that afflicted the sector, exposing a persistent application gap that the working group is now looking to fill.
The issues extend far beyond the balance sheets. The telecommunications sector of $ 75.6 billion in Nigeria is the vital element of its digital economy, fueling mobile banks, electronic commerce and distance education – essential sectors with the country’s growth ambitions. However, the damage caused by infrastructure threaten to derail these gains, disturbing connectivity and the saddle of operators with costs that roam the economy.
The recent tariff hike, although a rescue buoy for telecommunications, risk of low-income price, expanding the digital fracture at a time when the penetration of the wide strip remains a national priority within the framework of the national plan with wide strip 2020-2025.
For the working group, success could stabilize an industry on board, limit losses, improve the reliability of services and soften pressure on consumption portfolios. Failure, however, could anchor a cycle of costs and the decline in confidence, vandals and thieves holding future digital hostages in Nigeria.
