Between January 2024 and last month, telecommunications giant, MTN Nigeria suffered over 13,700 fibre cuts which negatively impacted network operations.
This was disclosed by the telco’s Chief Technical Officer (CTO) Yahaya Ibrahim, during a study tour by participants of the fourth Media Innovation Programme (MIP-4), at the School of Media and Communication, Pan-Atlantic University, to MTN’s head office in Ikoyi, last week.
Vandalism of critical national infrastructures like telecommunications masts, fibre cables, generators and other accessories at any base station negatively impacts the digital economy, reports The Nation.
It also causes significant financial, health, socio-economic and security losses to individuals, corporations and the country.
Shedding light on some of the challenges telco operators face in the country, the CTO said MTN for instance, records an average of 145 cable cuts daily as a result of vandalism or road construction/expansion activities.
While 9,000 of the incidents were recorded last year, Yahaya said between January and June this year, MTN suffered over 4,700 fibre cuts.
A regional breakdown of these fibre cuts showed that southern Nigeria recorded 6,300 comprising 2,800 in the Southwest and 3,500 recorded in the southeast and south-south.
In the north, he said the company suffered 2,500 incidents.
He said: “If we look at the cuts per region in the Southeastern and South South states have more cuts and this is where we have the most hotspots for Fibre and site vandalism.
“Akwa Ibom, Abia and Rivers stand out in states. While in specific locations Omoku and Egbema stand out for fibre vandalism.”
The CTO lamented that incessant fibre cuts were costing the company huge fortunes, revealing that a whooping N17.6 billion was spent to repair cuts in 2024, while N26.3 billion was budgeted for maintenance and relocation of cables once the need arises.
Ibrahim said sabotage and road construction accounted for 69% of total fibre cuts across the country, noting that MTN has appealed to relevant authorities to notify it whenever there is road construction or expansion around its fibre routes so the cables are relocated promptly.
“Before we lay these fibres, we usually get authorisation from the government concern and we ensure that Right of Way (RoW) is respected. After laying them, we take the maps to them so they know the locations of these cables.
“This is to prevent network disruptions and downtimes which affect almost all sectors of the economy. On a monthly average, we recorded 15 hours of downtime.
“During this period, all services will be down, that means no one will be able to use any services,” he said.
To contain these challenges, MTN said it has deployed route patrol/monitoring; construction bypass; investing in diverse routes for resilience, relocation of fibre, stakeholder engagement (construction workers and authorities), as well as communities for effective policing.
He said the announced designation of telecommunications assets as critical national infrastructures (CNI) by the government was a welcome development, adding that it would bolster support from state forces.
Ibrahim said there was a need for education and enlightenment of the masses on the importance of telecommunication services to Nigerians, and how disruptions affect the economic, social, political and security activities that are dependent on it.
