Tuesday, February 26, 2019 9.00AM /APO 

MainOne has announced a metro fiber infrastructure projectin two states of Nigeria, with support from Facebook. The infrastructurecollaboration is part of Facebook’s efforts to connect more people to broadbandinternet. As part of this project, MainOne is building and operatingapproximately 750 km terrestrial fiber infrastructure in Edo and Ogun States,two of Nigeria’s fastest growing states. 

These open-access transport networks will provide metrofiber connectivity to reach more than 1,000,000 people in Benin City, Abeokuta,Sagamu and 10 other towns by connecting mobile operators' base stations,Internet Service providers, Points of presence (POPs), and public locationsincluding schools and hospitals. This partnership will leverage MainOne’sstrength as a wholesale Telecoms Infrastructure service provider withinvestment from Facebook and support from local regulatory and stateauthorities to further deepen broadband penetration in Nigeria. 

Speaking on the partnership, Ibrahima Ba, Network InvestmentsLead for Emerging Markets at Facebook, said: “We are working closely withMainOne and other partners to accelerate broadband deployment. In Nigeria, weare bringing together Facebook’s learnings from scaling our globalinfrastructure with MainOne’s knowledge of the local environment to develop andtest new working models for multiple operators to access commoninfrastructure.” 

Funke Opeke, MainOne’s Chief Executive Officer, lauded thecollaboration and the commitment of Facebook and authorities in Nigeria toimproving broadband penetration across the country. Commenting on thepartnership, she added “MainOne has always been committed to broadbandinnovation, job creation, as well as growing the digital economy of WestAfrica. We believe that this partnership and the open-access network we havedeveloped will be beneficial to improving the quality of access andaccelerating the digital transformation in Ogun and Edo States.”