Frequent fibre optic cable cuts have been decried by Nigerian telecom companies, resulting in at least $23m (35.4bn) in 2023 lost.
The operators claim that this has also resulted in internet disruptions, therefore affecting the quality of telecommunications provided in the nation. Media accounts accessed by BrandSpur telecom and IT news from February claimed that several fiber disruptions prevented millions of MTN Nigeria consumers from making calls or connecting to the internet for roughly four hours. These more widespread cuts are upsetting internet speeds, access, and dependability.
Media sources state that Airtel Nigeria just demanded immediate action to safeguard telecom infrastructure as vandalism is increasing and records of an average of 43 fiber cuts daily on the Airtel network alone show.
Femi Adeniran, the Director of Corporate Communications and CSR for the company, was cited as claiming that throughout the past six months the telco had seen 7,742 fibre cuts overall. He claims that in the Nigerian telecom sector fiber cuts—mostly resulting from building operations, vandalism, and poor coordination among stakeholders—have become a pandemic.
Since fibre optic connections bring network capacity closer to consumers, they are essential for connectivity. With most concentrated in urban regions like Lagos (7,864.60km), Edo (4,892.51km), FCT (4,472.03km), Ogun (4,189.18km), and Niger (3,681.66km), Nigeria had installed 78,676 km of fibre optic cable as of 2023.
Bosun Tijani, the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), underlined in a submission for the Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy the need for an uninterrupted infrastructure network, including fibre cables, towers, and data centres, to optimal service quality.
According to the ALTON Chairman, Gbenga Adebayo: “Depending on the root of the impact, it can lead to prolonged outages. It also disrupts smooth operations.”
These cuts are expensive to correct. According to Bloomberg research, damaged cables cost carriers N27 billion ($23 million) in repairs and missed earnings in 2023, with MTN Nigeria and Airtel Africa Plc shouldering most of the costs. MTN faced more than 6,000 fibre line cuts in 2023. The report stated MTN relocated 2,500 kilometers (1,553 miles) of dangerous fibre lines between 2022 and 2023, costing more than N11 billion.
In underdeveloped areas, this investment could have created 870 km of additional fibre connections.
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However, the Nigerian ICT industry has been urging the federal government to classify telecom infrastructure as a vital national asset to handle ongoing infrastructure attacks throughout the nation.
Continuing, a statement in October partly reads: “In 2023 alone, MTN Nigeria reported suffering more than 6,000 cuts on its fibre cable. The operator relocated 2,500 kilometres of vulnerable fibre cables between 2022 and 2023 at a cost exceeding N11bn—enough to build 870 kilometres of new fibre lines in areas without coverage.”
Crucially for Nigeria’s economic development, the main players in the industry have also asked the federal government to protect the nation’s telecoms infrastructure from cyber threats, theft, and vandalism. At the 30th Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja, the stakeholders talked during a panel session under the subject “Protecting Critical National Infrastructure: Securing Nigeria’s Telecommunications Sector for Sustainable Growth”.
By protecting Nigeria’s telecom infrastructure, the Senior Vice President/Chief Corporate Services Officer of IHS, Dapo Otunla, said it became imperative to enhance fundamental infrastructure supporting the digital economy of the nation. Achieving the digital economy ambitions of the current government depends on safeguarding telecommunications assets, thus he stated, and he urged cooperative solutions for this protection from vandalism, theft, and cyberattacks.
