As of December 2022, according to statistics from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), total fibre optics deployment across the country stood at 96,198 km (terrestrial fibre and submarine cable).
Since the fibre optic cables are laid under the ground, they are highly susceptible to cuts during road and other infrastructure constructions across the country.
Fibre optic network technology is generally accepted in the telecom sector because it is the fastest and most widely used medium of backhaul transmission that offers the required capacity and capability to meet the required telecoms needs of customers. It provides enhanced features and advantages that are superior to copper-based and wireless backhaul transmission options.
When this infrastructure is vandalised, it leads to low browsing/download speed, high drop call rate, low call setup success rate/congestion and voice quality degradation (clipping voice).
The Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) confirmed receiving reports of cuts on their fibre network of the MNOs arising from the action of contractors that have just moved to the site.
The Chairman of the group, Gbenga Adebayo said there were reports of multiple fibre cuts that took a toll on the integrity of the network. He said that the cut underscored the need for the Federal Government to quickly categorise telecom infrastructure as Critical National Infrastructure (CNI).
Also reacting to the network outage, Nigeria’s largest carrier, MTN had appealed for understanding to its 87,038,768 customers, representing 38.79 per cent of the total 224,713,710 subscribers, according to the Subscriber Data/Teledensity Data of January 2023 compiled by the NCC.
“Our customers have been experiencing challenges connecting to the network due to a major service outage caused by multiple fibre cuts affecting voice and data services. Our engineers are working hard to resolve the problem; with services gradually being restored in some areas.
“We apologise for the inconvenience and ask for your patience and understanding as the team works hard to restore full service as soon as possible,” a statement from the telco said.
Advertisement
Also reacting, the Communication Lead at 9mobile, Chineze Amanfo said the telco has also received reports about cuts on its fibre optic cables, leading to subscribers’ nightmares on the network. Like MTN, she assured that services would be normalised as engineers were already on the field to fix the problem.