Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, has set October 2026 as the start date for Project BRIDGE, a federal initiative to deploy 90,000km of fibre optic cable nationwide. The project, estimated to cost $2 billion, aims to expand Nigeria's digital backbone to 120,000km and connect 33 million Nigerians currently offline. Funding of $800 million has been secured from the World Bank, African Development Bank and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, with the remaining $1.2 billion expected from private investors. The government shortened the project's completion timeline from five to three years, now targeting 2028.
Despite rising broadband subscriptions — 124.42 million in July 2026, up from 104.07 million in 2025 — users continue to report poor network reliability. Tijani acknowledged in May that structural issues and years of underinvestment have hampered connectivity. He linked Project BRIDGE and the Nigeria Universal Communication Access Project (NUCAP) to resolving these challenges. Technology policy expert Jide Awe noted that while fibre construction has appeared in parts of Lagos and private estates, the rollout lacks the scale expected of a national project.
In 2024, ALTON chairman Gbenga Adebayo argued that telecom tariffs were insufficient for operators to maintain service quality. The NCC approved a 50 percent tariff increase in early 2025, with the expectation that operators would reinvest the proceeds into network infrastructure. The effectiveness of that adjustment remains under scrutiny as consumers still report unreliable service despite higher costs.
The minister promised fibre deployment will start in October, yet Nigerians have seen no visible rollout despite years of announcements and partial funding. If the project does not begin in the next few weeks, the 2028 completion target will appear more like a projection than a plan.
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