Minister of Communications, Innovations and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, has laid the blame of drop calls and poor telecommunication networks in the country on the doorsteps of activities of vandals in the country.
This is even as the minister disclosed that about $2bn will be required to lay fibre optics cable across Nigeria for optimal performance.
Tijani, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Tuesday, also said he is working on declaring telecoms infrastructure as critical national assets to prevent vandalism.
He said, “There are times that you experience a bad connection that it is simply that an infrastructure has been destroyed somewhere.
“So, one of the memos I have been working on as a minister is actually to declare telecommunication infrastructure as critical national infrastructure because there are times people go vandalise a base station, steal some of the things there, go resell.
“Every time that is done, it gets in the way of the quality of connections that people get. There are times people dig the ground and they end up breaking fibre optics cables – those fibre optics cables also contribute to the quality of services that you and me get.”
On installation of fibre optic cables, he disclosed that it would cost about $2bn to wire the whole of the country for the seamless experience of the 5G network.
“We do in some places,” he said when asked whether 5G exists in Nigeria.
“The infrastructure that drives 5G is not something that is across the nation.
“So, if you are subscribing to 5G and you move into locations where the infrastructure cannot support it, of course, the quality will drop. 5G exists in Nigeria and there are telcos with the licence,” the minister said.
Tijani said the government is doing everything possible to increase the kilometre of fibre optics cables in Nigeria.
“We are about 35 to 40 kilometres right now and the goal is to go to 95,000 km,” he said. “It’s going to cost us roughly about $1.5bn to $2bn to wire the entire of Nigeria.”
The minister hoped that under his leadership, the ministry, would in the first four years of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, achieve the aspiration of wiring Nigeria.
He said the current government want to connect schools, hospitals, government offices and other vital places with fibre cables. “Because once we can do this, we start to see changes in the delivery of public services,” the minister said.
