Nigeria’s telecommunications industry faced significant disruptions in May, with 33 major network outages reported across the country, driven by vandalism, fibre-optic cable cuts, and persistent power shortages, according to data from Uptime, the Nigerian Communications Commission’s outage reporting portal.
All four major operators—MTN, Airtel, Globacom, and 9mobile—experienced service disruptions, impacting millions of subscribers with dropped calls, degraded service quality, and internet outages across multiple states.
Globacom reported the highest number of incidents at 13, primarily due to fibre cuts and power issues in Lagos, Rivers, Ogun, and the Federal Capital Territory.
9mobile followed with 11 outages, largely attributed to power failures and technical faults.
The outages stemmed from a combination of factors, including fibre cuts from unregulated road construction, equipment vandalism, power outages, and theft of telecom infrastructure, affecting both urban and rural areas.
Industry leaders have raised alarms over the growing financial and operational toll of these disruptions, which require costly repairs and prolonged restoration efforts.
At a recent stakeholder meeting in Lagos to review Nigeria’s 22-year-old Communications Act, MTN Nigeria’s Chief Corporate Services and Sustainability Officer, Tobechukwu Okigbo, highlighted the severe financial impact of network downtime.
He explained that outages caused by fibre cuts, power failures, and infrastructure vandalism not only disrupt services but also impose substantial financial burdens on operators.
“Over 2,500 fibre cuts were recorded in the state last year, causing widespread service disruptions and financial losses,” said Jude Ighomena, Senior Manager at Broadbased Communications, during the Policy Implementation Assisted Forum held in March in Lagos.
To bolster infrastructure security, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed the ‘Designation and Protection of Critical National Information Infrastructure Order, 2024’ on June 24, 2024.
This executive order designates specific information and communications technology systems, networks, and infrastructure in Nigeria as critical national assets.
To tackle ongoing challenges, telecom leaders are advocating for a Fibre Protection Framework to streamline regulation, implement real-time monitoring, and impose strict penalties for damaging fibre infrastructure.
