MTN Reports over 13,000 Fibre Cuts in 18 Months

MTN Nigeria informed the public of more than 13,700 fibre outages between January 2024 and last month, which had a detrimental effect on network performance.

During a study visit of MTN’s headquarters in Ikoyi last week by participants in the fourth Media Innovation Programme (MIP-4) at the School of Media and Communication, Pan-Atlantic University, the telco’s Chief Technical Officer (CTO), Yahaya Ibrahim, revealed this information known.

Vandalism of vital national infrastructure, such as fiber cables, telecommunications masts, generators, and other accessories at any base station, has a detrimental effect on the digital economy, according to the Nation.

Individuals, businesses, and the nation as a whole suffer severe financial, health, socioeconomic, and security losses as a result.

According to the CTO, MTN, for example, had experienced an average of 145 cable cuts every day due to vandalism or road construction/expansion activities, highlighting some of the difficulties that the nation’s telco carriers confront.

According to Yahaya, MTN experienced more than 4,700 fibre outages between January and June of this year, compared to 9,000 occurrences that were reported last year.

According to a regional analysis of these fibre cuts, 6,300 were documented in southern Nigeria, with 2,800 occurring in the southwest and 3,500 in the southeast and south-south.

He said the company experienced 2,500 instances in the north. 

“The South Eastern and South South states have more cuts than the rest, and this is where we have the most hotspots for fibre and site vandalism,” he stated.

In states, Akwa Ibom, Abia, and Rivers are notable. However, Omoku and Egbema are notable for fiber vandalism in particular areas.

The CTO expressed regret that the firm was losing a lot of money due to the constant fibre outages, stating that N17.6 billion was spent in 2024 to fix the outages, while N26.3 billion was set aside for cable maintenance and relocation as necessary.

69% of all fibre cuts nationwide, according to Ibrahim, were caused by sabotage and road construction. He said that MTN has urged the appropriate authorities to alert it anytime there is road construction or expansion near its fibre routes so that the cables can be moved as soon as possible.

“We typically obtain permission from the relevant government agency before laying these fibres, and we make sure that the Right of Way (RoW) is upheld. We give them the charts once they are laid so they are aware of where these wires are.

This is to avoid network outages and disturbances, which have an impact on practically every industry. We documented 15 hours of outage on average every month. 

“All services will be unavailable during this time, so nobody will be able to use any services,” he further stated.

MTN claimed that in order to address these issues, it has implemented construction bypasses, route patrols and monitoring, fiber relocation, diversified routes for resilience, stakeholder participation (including construction workers and authorities), and communities for efficient enforcement.

He noted that the government’s announcement that telecommunications assets will be designated as key national infrastructures (CNI) was a positive step and would increase state forces’ support.

According to Ibrahim, the general public has to be educated and made aware of the value of telecommunications services to Nigerians and how interruptions impact the social, political, economic, and security activities that depend on them.

In July 2024, last year, a presidential decree that designated all telecommunications facilities as critical national information infrastructure (CNI) was signed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Destroying communication infrastructure is now illegal, and anyone found guilty will face up to ten years in prison.

Governments are also forbidden from destroying telecom infrastructure without a court order.

Ibrahim claimed that despite the halt in enforcement, the approach has resulted in noticeable improvements in the protection of infrastructure.

“Although this is still new, progress is being made, and interventions are underway to fully operationalize the law,” he stated.

Ibrahim emphasized that in order to effectively implement the CNI designation for telecom infrastructure, greater training and cooperation are required.

In order to understand how crucial and important the connectivity has become to Nigerians, the MTN official stated, they must first educate ourselves on the importance of telecommunication services to Nigerians, how our economic, social, political, and security activities are dependent on telecommunications.

People won’t be able to conduct online bank transactions, online vendors and merchants won’t be able to sell, you won’t be able to get help if there is a security risk in your home or neighbourhood, gamers and social media enthusiasts won’t be able to use their apps, and a sick person won’t be able to call for assistance when services are down. The ramifications of not being connected are extensive.

Ibrahim added that everyone has a responsibility to protect telecom infrastructure and that enforcement can begin once education is complete.