Tizeti, a leading Internet Service Provider in Nigeria, has announced plans to reduce bandwidth costs by 90% by utilizing the Federal Government’s 90,000-kilometre fibre-optic backbone project.
The broadband initiative, supported by a $2bn grant from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, will lay fibre-optic infrastructure along key national routes such as power grids, railways, roads, and oil and gas pipelines.
The USTDA grant was formalized last week during a signing ceremony attended by Dr. Bosun Tijani, the Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy.
The event also featured key stakeholders from the U.S. agency and Tizeti’s CEO, Kendall Ananyi.
In a LinkedIn post, CEO Ananyi expressed optimism that the project would help reduce the high costs of bandwidth in Nigeria, ultimately making internet services more affordable and accessible.
The 11-year-old operator plans to use the cost savings from the fibre-optic backbone to expand its FreeFiber.Africa initiative, which seeks to provide high-speed broadband to underserved communities.
“Once completed, this initiative will help reduce TIZETI’s bandwidth cost of sales by 90 per cent, enabling us to generate additional free cash flow that will accelerate broadband penetration through our recently launched FreeFiber.Africa project,” Ananyi disclosed.
In December, the US Y Combinator-backed firm launched its FreeFiber broadband service in Lagos and Port Harcourt, Nigeria, and Accra, Ghana, with plans to expand to more cities within the next year.
The operator stated that FreeFiber broadband offers speeds exceeding 1Gbps, significantly surpassing the regional average of 28Mbps.
