Nigeria’s telecommunications industry recorded 33 major service outages in May 2025, as increasing incidents of vandalism, fibre-optic cable cuts, and persistent power shortages disrupted services nationwide. The data, sourced from Uptime, the Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC) official outage reporting portal, paints a concerning picture of growing infrastructure vulnerability.
The report, obtained on Wednesday, showed that all four major network operators MTN, Airtel, Globacom, and 9mobile were affected, with Globacom and 9mobile experiencing the highest number of disruptions. The outages impacted millions of subscribers, leading to degraded call quality, dropped connections, and widespread internet blackouts across several states.
Breakdown of Incidents:
- Globacom reported 13 outages, the highest among the operators, mainly attributed to fibre cuts and power failures in Lagos, Rivers, Ogun, and the Federal Capital Territory.
- 9mobile followed with 11 incidents, citing persistent power issues and technical faults.
- MTN, Nigeria’s largest operator, experienced 5 disruptions linked to fibre damage in Benue, Imo, and Akwa Ibom.
- Airtel reported 4 outages, driven by vandalism and electricity failures in Bayelsa and Abia.
Causes and Financial Impact:
The Uptime data revealed that the disruptions were triggered by:
- Fibre cuts due to road construction
- Vandalism and theft of telecom infrastructure
- Power grid failures
Industry estimates suggest that each outage costs millions of naira in repair and revenue losses. According to Bloomberg, the sector lost about ₦27 billion in 2023 alone due to similar incidents.
The NCC had earlier disclosed that over 50,000 fibre cuts were recorded in 2024, with around 30,000 traced to road construction by federal and state agencies. Lagos State alone reported over 2,500 fibre cuts, resulting in ₦5 billion in losses for operators.
Industry Response and Government Action:
Telecom providers continue to raise alarms about the increasing operational and financial toll of these disruptions. They argue that without proper protection and enforcement, infrastructure sabotage will continue to undermine the sector’s growth.
“Every downtime translates to significant revenue loss and affects millions of users,” said Tobechukwu Okigbo, Chief Corporate Services and Sustainability Officer at MTN Nigeria, during a recent stakeholder session in Lagos reviewing Nigeria’s 22-year-old communications framework.
Echoing similar concerns, Jude Ighomena, a Senior Manager at Broadbased Communications, stressed the urgency of protecting telecom infrastructure, particularly in construction-heavy regions.
In response, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed an executive order on June 24, 2024, titled the Designation and Protection of Critical National Information Infrastructure Order, 2024. The directive officially classifies certain telecom and ICT infrastructure as critical national assets, granting them enhanced legal protection.
However, operators are urging further action. They are calling for the creation of a Fibre Protection Framework that would:
- Centralise regulatory oversight
- Enable real-time infrastructure monitoring
- Impose strict penalties for offenders
The sector’s stakeholders argue that only with stronger laws, better coordination, and heightened accountability can Nigeria’s telecom backbone be safeguarded against future disruptions.
