Telecommunication services suffered major disruptions in at least nine states across Nigeria during the first week of June 2025. According to the Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC) live incident portal, several fibre cuts and other issues caused interruptions to mobile and internet services, affecting millions of users nationwide.
The states impacted include Rivers, Katsina, Lagos, Enugu, Benue, Anambra, Imo, Abia, and Akwa Ibom. Major network providers such as Airtel, MTN, 9Mobile, and Globacom were all affected, with service interruptions ranging from voice calls and SMS to mobile data and USSD transactions.
Fibre optic cable damage was the leading cause, accounting for seven of the nine recorded incidents within the period. Airtel was particularly hard hit, with three fibre cuts reported between June 1 and June 5. The first occurred on June 1 in Rivers State, affecting Degema, Obio-Akpor, and Port Harcourt, and lasted nearly three hours. Another similar outage followed the next day in the same locations, lasting about one and a half hours. On June 5, Airtel suffered another fibre cut in Anambra and Imo States, disrupting services in Ideato North, Owerri Municipal, and Owerri West for over an hour.
9Mobile also faced two significant fibre disruptions. On June 1, services were interrupted in Katsina across 11 local government areas, including Daura and Funtua, for more than an hour. The following day, a longer outage of over four hours hit commercial areas in Lagos such as Apapa, Lagos Island, Mushin, and Surulere.
MTN experienced a fibre cut on June 2 that disrupted services in parts of Benue and Enugu States. Towns including Nsukka and Udi had no SMS, voice, or data for nearly an hour. MTN also reported a separate power outage on June 3, affecting service delivery in Borno and Gombe States, including Maiduguri and Gombe. This blackout lasted 42 minutes and affected all telecom services.
Globacom recorded a fibre cut on June 5 in Abia, Akwa Ibom, Imo, and Rivers States, affecting places like Aba North and Umuahia South for 46 minutes.
Besides fibre cuts, deliberate vandalism also disrupted telecom services. On June 2, Globacom reported attacks on its infrastructure in Enugu State and the Federal Capital Territory, causing over two hours of service disruption.
These outages affected critical telecom services, including voice calls, SMS, USSD codes (used for banking and financial transactions), and mobile internet. This not only disrupted personal communications but also hit businesses and digital services that rely on continuous connectivity.
Rivers State was particularly vulnerable, suffering two outages in two days caused by fibre cuts on Airtel’s network. Enugu State faced double disruptions from MTN and Globacom, while Katsina and Lagos were worst hit by 9Mobile’s network failures.
The incidents highlight the vulnerability of Nigeria’s telecom infrastructure to accidental and deliberate damage. Many fibre cuts result from road construction and poor coordination between operators and construction companies. The vandalism cases suggest an additional threat from intentional sabotage.
Furthermore, the MTN power failure reveals the sector’s dependence on the unreliable national power supply, which often causes service interruptions.
The Nigerian telecom sector faces massive financial losses from these disruptions. Documents obtained by Bloomberg and confirmed by industry insiders show that in 2023 alone, fibre cable damage cost the telecom industry nearly N27 billion (\$23 million). MTN and Airtel bore the greatest share of these losses.
MTN reported over 6,000 fibre cuts last year, with one notable incident in February caused by multiple factors, including road works and waste burning. To address vulnerability, MTN relocated more than 2,500 kilometres of cables between 2022 and 2023 at a cost of over N11 billion — funds that could have been used to expand network coverage.
Experts and telecom executives have called for urgent measures to protect fibre optic infrastructure. Jude Ighomena, Senior Manager at Broadbased Communications, said Lagos alone recorded over 2,500 fibre cuts last year, causing widespread network failures and financial damage.
Wale Owoeye, CEO of Cedarview Communications, highlighted the need to classify fibre cables as critical national infrastructure. He highlighted telecom’s vital role in national security, e-governance, telemedicine, and finance.
Responding to this, President Bola Tinubu officially designated telecom infrastructure as Critical National Information Infrastructure last year, criminalizing willful destruction of assets such as fibre cables, towers, and data centres.
Telecom firms are pushing for a comprehensive Fibre Protection Framework to centralize regulation, enforce real-time monitoring, and impose heavy penalties on culprits.
The Federal Government has established a Joint Standing Committee on the Protection of Fibre-Optic Cables. This committee, led by the Ministries of Works and Communications, aims to improve coordination between government agencies and telecom companies, reducing accidental damages from construction activities.
In addition, the NCC has introduced new rules requiring telecom operators to notify customers about major network outages. Operators must disclose the causes, affected areas, and expected repair times through media announcements. Planned maintenance must be announced at least one week ahead to minimize customer inconvenience.
Fibre optic cables are crucial to modern communication, enabling fast and reliable transmission of voice, data, and internet services. In Nigeria, where mobile phones and digital banking are widespread, uninterrupted telecom services are essential for everyday life and the economy.
However, poor infrastructure protection, inadequate planning of roadworks, vandalism, and power supply challenges continue to threaten network stability. Without sustained efforts from government, telecom companies, and contractors, Nigerians will keep facing unreliable telecom services.
