The Minister of Communications, Innovations, and Digital Economy has revealed the reason why Nigeria still experiences bad communication networks.
Minister Bosun Tijani, during an interview on Channels TV Politics Today, disclosed that the primary factor contributing to the subpar network is the substantial investment required to lay fiber optics cables across the country. Despite the existence of advanced technology like the Fifth-Generation (5G) network, he emphasized that the supporting infrastructure is not widespread.
To achieve this coverage, an estimated $2 billion is needed, presenting a significant financial hurdle.
During the interview, Tijani also pointed out that vandalism plays a significant role in the drop calls and overall deterioration of telecommunication networks in Nigeria. He elaborated on his efforts to declare telecoms infrastructure a critical national asset to combat vandalism.
Tijani stated,
“There are times that you experience bad connection that it is simply because 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 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.”