Nigeria’s telecom operators have reported 5,478 fibre cuts between January and July 2025, a setback that continues to undermine nationwide service quality.
MTN, which provided the data, said road construction and vandalism remain the leading causes. In July alone, the operator recorded 760 fibre cuts across the country.
One of the recent cases in the North-East triggered a scheduled maintenance exercise on Monday, August 17, from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m., disrupting services at 101 sites across 15 local councils in Kano, Adamawa, and Borno states.
The company said the incident highlights the ripple effects of vandalism, which forces operators to constantly rebuild, reroute, and restore critical infrastructure to keep networks stable.
According to MTN, repairs over the weekend included restoring a major fibre line along the AFCOT–Bawo Village route in Adamawa State. The upgrade involved cutting over traffic to a newly installed fibre span, a move it described as necessary to eliminate recurrent damage and strengthen network reliability.
The downtime affected 2G, 3G, 4G, and enterprise services in the following areas: Nasarawa LGA (Kano State); Girei, Song, Mubi North, Hong, Gombi, Fufore, Mubi South, Madagali, Michika, Maiha, Chibok, and Yola North (Adamawa State); and Askira/Uba and Shani (Borno State).
MTN explained that the route’s “linear and unprotected” nature made temporary service disruptions unavoidable but assured subscribers that the upgrade would improve long-term network stability.
