….Sets up joint committee to tackle issue
The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), Aminu Maida, has disclosed that the country recorded over 50,000 incidents of fiber cuts in 2024, with approximately 30,000 of these disruptions linked to road construction activities by federal and state agencies.
According to a statement issued by NCC Spokesperson, Rueben Mouka on Monday, the EVC made the disclosure last week during the inauguration of a Joint Standing Committee on the Protection of Fiber Optic Cables by the Federal Ministry of Works (FMoW) and the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy (FMoCIDE).
The committee was established to address the reoccurring issue of fiber optic cuts and damages caused by road construction and rehabilitation activities.
The NCC boss emphasised the significance of the Committee’s mandate, noting that it has the potential to significantly reduce service disruptions across Nigeria’s telecommunications industry.
“This is a pivotal moment for the telecommunication industry and its customers. Fiber networks are the foundation of Nigeria’s broadband ecosystem, providing the essential high-capacity backhaul required to deliver ultra-fast 4G and 5G speeds, as these next-generation mobile technologies rely on fiber infrastructure to ensure low latency, high reliability, and seamless data transmission.
“Last year, we experienced over 50,000 fiber cuts incidents across the country of which around 30,000 were attributed to Federal and State Road construction activities. In the extreme, some of these incidents had led to major network outages like the February 2024 nationwide MTN network outage.
“A key contributor to the increasing number of fiber cuts attributed to road construction activities is the lack of an efficient handshake mechanism between road construction companies and operators of the fiber infrastructure.
“I am optimistic that the work of this Committee will lead to a significant reduction in fiber cuts attributed to road construction which would then reduce network outages, avoid unnecessary expenditure on repair works and reduce the need to put redundant routes in place to serve as alternatives whenever there are outages due to fiber cuts.
“This initiative is not just for the benefit of the telecommunications industry but for all Nigerians. Every time a fiber cut occurs, consumers experience service disruptions. The industry is forced to invest in costly redundancy measures, but if we can prevent these avoidable disruptions, operators can redirect resources towards network expansion and infrastructure improvement,” Maida stated.
Daily Sun
