Right of Way: Why Nigerian Fibre Costs More Than It Should (2026)

Last updated: November 2026 · Reading time: about 12 minutes

The ₦145 myth

In 2020 the National Economic Council directed states to adopt a uniform right-of-way charge of ₦145 per linear metre to accelerate broadband rollout. Before harmonisation, fees ranged from ₦4,000 to ₦8,000 per metre depending on the state. On paper, a 96% reduction.

On the ground, the reduction has been partial, uneven, and in several states entirely nominal. The reason is structural: right-of-way is a state-level approval, not a federal one. The NCC can negotiate, publish guidance and name and shame, but it cannot set a state's permit fees. Each of the 36 states and the FCT runs its own process, with its own rate, its own application fee, and its own set of ancillary levies.

The result is a national policy that produces wildly different landed costs per kilometre, depending on which state a fibre route happens to cross. That is the single most important thing to understand about Nigerian broadband economics: the cost of connecting two points is a function of the number of state boundaries between them.

What states actually charge

Here is the current spread, from NCC ease-of-doing-business data and industry reporting.

The spread matters because fibre routes are linear. A 200km route from Lagos toward Ibadan crosses state boundaries, and each boundary can reset the rate. An operator planning a national backbone is not comparing ₦145 to ₦6,600 on average — it is choosing whether to route around states, delay, or absorb the cost. All three outcomes slow deployment.

The application-fee backdoor

The more subtle problem is that the headline rate is only one line in the cost stack.

An application fee is charged per application, not per metre. On a long route the per-kilometre effect of a ₦700,000 fee is modest. On the short metro links that connect a data centre to a backbone, or a business park to a ring, it is substantial — and those are precisely the links that determine whether a fibre network serves customers or just passes through.

ALTON's chairman has been explicit that some states replace formal RoW charges with other levies, making the apparent concession less meaningful. His list of the charges operators encounter includes development levies per linear metre, educational levies, environmental levies, effluent discharge fees and capital deployment fees. A state that announces a zero RoW rate and then charges a development levy per metre has not reduced the cost of laying fibre; it has renamed it.

“Zero RoW” does not mean zero cost

The eleven waiver states are a genuine improvement, and the NCC has linked them to faster fibre expansion — Kaduna and Niger are cited as among the most advanced users of the policy. The $1 billion in operator investment commitments that followed the reforms is a real signal.

But three caveats matter for anyone reading a headline about waiver states.

• Application fees survive the waiver. Adamawa has removed the RoW charge and still requires ₦100,000 per application. The fee is smaller, not zero.
• Ancillary levies survive the waiver. The development, environmental and capital-placement levies listed by ALTON are separate from the RoW charge and are not automatically abolished when the rate goes to zero.
• Approval time is a cost. The NCC has repeatedly cited delays in approvals and multiple permitting requirements as discouraging investment. A zero-fee permit that takes nine months costs more in delayed revenue than a ₦145 permit that takes three weeks, because the capital is committed either way.

What this does to deployment economics

Three independent estimates of the cost effect, all pointing the same direction.

Note the tension between the ALTON and GSMA figures. If RoW were 50–60% of deployment cost in a typical state, full compliance with ₦145 would do far more than cut costs by 15%. The reconciliation is that ALTON's 50–60% applies to some states — the high-charge ones — while GSMA's 15% is a national average across compliant and non-compliant states. Both are correct about different populations. This is exactly the kind of figure that gets flattened into a single misleading headline.

The macro context makes the cost question urgent. Broadband penetration stood at 48.81% in August 2025 and about 49.3% by September 2025, against a National Broadband Plan target of 70% that the country will not meet. The government's BRIDGE project aims to roll out 90,000km of fibre at roughly $2 billion. At that budget the implied cost is around $22,000 per kilometre. Every state that adds ₦2,000–₦6,600 per metre — or ₦2–6.6 million per kilometre — is adding a material fraction of that budget to the route.

The second cost layer: cuts and vandalism

Right-of-way is the cost of laying fibre. There is a second cost of keeping it working, and it is large enough to change the investment case on its own.

Between January and August 2025, Nigeria recorded 19,384 fibre cut incidents, 3,241 cases of equipment theft, and over 19,000 denials of access to telecom sites. Each cut is a repair crew, a service interruption and, in some cases, a regulatory reporting obligation. Road construction is a frequent cause, which is why coordination between state works ministries and fibre operators matters as much as the permit fee.

This is where the policy conversation often stops too early. Reducing the RoW fee lowers the cost of the first kilometre. Protecting the fibre from cuts lowers the cost of every subsequent year of operation. A state that charges zero but has uncoordinated roadworks and no protection regime for telecom infrastructure is not a low-cost state over a five-year horizon.

What would actually fix it

Five measures, in order of impact.

1. Legislate, do not just negotiate. The National Economic Council directive is a resolution, not a statute. ALTON has called for legislation making right-of-way access free, particularly in rural and low-return areas. A law with a penalty for non-compliance would do more than another round of engagement, because a state that ignores a resolution risks nothing.
2. Standardise the whole permit, not just the rate. Publish a single schedule covering the RoW charge, the application fee, the ancillary levies, the approval timeline and the appeal route. Operators can plan around a known cost; they cannot plan around a cost that varies by ministry.
3. Set an approval clock. A published maximum approval period, with deemed approval if the clock expires, converts an unbounded delay into a bounded one. This is the intervention that operators would value most and that costs states the least.
4. Coordinate roadworks with fibre routes. Ducting installed during road construction costs a fraction of trenching afterwards. Requiring ducts in new road projects would eliminate a large share of the cut incidents and the re-excavation cost simultaneously.
5. Use the USPF strategically. The Universal Service Provision Fund exists to subsidise deployment in areas where commercial returns do not justify private capital. ALTON has argued it should be deployed more aggressively in exactly the rural locations where RoW charges make the economics impossible.

The National Digital Economy and E-Government Bill, reported to have reached third reading and expected to pass before the end of 2026, is the most likely vehicle for the first two measures. Whether it includes an enforceable RoW provision is the thing to watch.

Frequently asked questions

What is right of way in Nigerian telecoms?

Right of way is the fee a state or local authority charges for permission to lay fibre-optic cable along public roads and land. The National Economic Council directed states in 2020 to adopt a uniform ₦145 per linear metre charge, down from fees that had ranged from ₦4,000 to ₦8,000 per metre depending on the state.

How much do states actually charge for right of way?

It varies enormously. Eleven states have waived the charge entirely and 17 cap it at ₦145 per metre. But Ogun charges ₦6,600 per metre, Kano ₦2,754, Delta ₦2,706, Rivers ₦2,256, Akwa Ibom ₦2,000 and Osun ₦1,500. On top of the rate, application fees run from ₦10,000 to ₦700,000.

Why is Ogun's right-of-way charge so high?

Ogun has consistently been listed as the highest-charging state, at ₦6,600 per linear metre in current NCC ease-of-doing-business data — roughly 45 times the national benchmark. Earlier operator-compiled figures put it higher still. The state has not aligned with the National Economic Council cap.

If a state waives right of way, is fibre deployment free?

No. Application fees survive the waiver — Adamawa has removed the RoW charge and still requires ₦100,000 per application. Ancillary levies including development levies per linear metre, educational levies, environmental levies and capital deployment fees are separate from the RoW charge. Approval delays are also a cost, because committed capital earns nothing while a permit is pending.

How much of fibre deployment cost is right of way?

ALTON estimates right-of-way can account for 50–60% of the total cost of deploying one kilometre of fibre in some states. The GSMA estimates that non-compliance with the harmonised rate pushes deployment costs up by up to 70%, and that full compliance would cut costs by roughly 15%. The two figures describe different populations — high-charge states versus a national average.

Why does this matter for broadband in Nigeria?

Broadband penetration was about 49.3% in September 2025 against a 70% national target. The BRIDGE project aims to lay 90,000km of fibre at roughly $2 billion, which implies about $22,000 per kilometre. Every state charging ₦2,000–₦6,600 per metre is adding ₦2–6.6 million per kilometre to a route, which is a material share of that budget.

What would fix the right-of-way problem?

Legislation rather than a resolution, so non-compliant states face a consequence. A standardised permit covering the rate, the application fee, ancillary levies and the approval timeline. A published maximum approval period with deemed approval on expiry. Ducting requirements in new road projects to reduce fibre cuts. And more aggressive use of the Universal Service Provision Fund for rural routes where commercial returns do not justify private capital.

Related reading on Dedon Tech: MTN Nigeria vs Airtel Africa: where telecom capex actually turns into ARPU · does mobile money actually lift ARPU? · the case for accelerated tech infrastructure investment in Nigeria and Africa · full site map

Data sources: Nigerian Communications Commission ease-of-doing-business data on right-of-way charges; ALTON statements at the 2026 Nigerian Economic Summit; GSMA estimates on harmonisation and deployment cost; NCC 2024 industry operating cost data; BusinessDay, Vanguard and Punch reporting on state RoW charges and application fees, 2026; National Broadband Plan 2020–2025 progress reporting.