Nigerian authorities plans to guard telecom infrastructure following ₦27 billion losses

• The Nigerian authorities plans to criminalise the destruction of broadband fibre cables after MTN and Airtel reported losses of ₦27 billion. 

• The Ministry of Works claims {that a} new regulation is being developed to guard telecom infrastructure, which is in dire want of safety, and to impose extreme penalties on offenders. 

• Recall that MTN Nigeria experienced a serious service outage in February 2024, rendering thousands and thousands of shoppers unable to make calls or hook up with the web. 

The outage was attributable to a fibre optic cable minimize, which might be traced again to both street building or vandalism. This recurring challenge has posed a constant problem to the telecom trade. Final 12 months, the MTN experienced over 6,000 fibre optic cable cuts.

Between 2022 and 2023, the operator spent greater than N11 billion to maneuver 2,500 kilometres (1,553 miles) of fibre cables.

In 2020, Airtel expressed considerations that street building tasks in Lagos and different elements of the nation affected its community efficiency because of the excessive stage of fibre cuts. The telco confirmed that it skilled 1022 fibre cuts between July 2019 and February 2020. 

Temitope Ajayi, a senior aide to the President, shared that telecom belongings function a important spine that helps the financial system throughout sectors, including that the Affiliation of Telecommunications Corporations has been calling for the classification for years.

“New guidelines will present additional assurance that the Nigerian authorities will shield their investments in opposition to vandals and felony parts,” Ajayi added.

Furthermore, the top of the Affiliation of Telecommunications Corporations of Nigeria, Tony Izuagbe Emoekpere, expressed that communication infrastructure is broken at will. 

Whereas he awaits the president’s order on the event, he recognises that it’s going to considerably enhance the sector and appeal to funding. 

 In 2022, the Nationwide Communication Fee reported that over 50,000 instances of serious injury to telecom infrastructure and services had been recorded in 5 years within the nation.

Then, the Govt Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Fee (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, emphasised that the affect of infrastructure vandalism is universally skilled resulting in a decline in service high quality. 

The Nigerian telecom market measurement is estimated at $9.09 billion in 2024 and is predicted to succeed in $11.43 billion by 2029, rising at a CAGR of 4.70% throughout the forecast interval (2024-2029).