Nigeria’s telecom regulator says more than 5,000 fibre-optic cable cuts were recorded in the first six months of 2026, mostly caused by road construction and excavation work. This marks a sharp improvement from previous years; between January and August 2025, NCC reported 19,384 fibre-optic cable cuts.
Executive Vice-Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Aminu Maida, told a stakeholders’ workshop in Abuja that poor coordination between telecom operators and construction contractors remains the leading cause, citing the February 2024 nationwide MTN outage as a cautionary example of how one cut can disrupt millions of users.
The Office of the National Security Adviser warned that telecom infrastructure is now legally classified as Critical National Information Infrastructure, meaning negligent damage could carry legal consequences.
The Federal Government has established a tripartite standing committee to improve coordination, promote a “dig once” approach to road and cable work, and enforce right-of-way regulations nationwide.
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