Nigeria’s telecommunications industry experienced 33 major network outages in May 2025, significantly disrupting services across the country. According to data from Uptime, the Nigerian Communications Commission’s outage monitoring portal, all four major operators—MTN, Airtel, Globacom, and 9mobile—were affected. The widespread disruptions led to dropped calls and internet issues for millions of subscribers nationwide.
The root causes of the outages include rampant fibre-optic cable cuts due to road construction, infrastructure vandalism, power supply shortages, and theft. Globacom and 9mobile were hit the hardest, recording 13 and 11 outages respectively. The disruptions spanned both urban and rural regions, impacting operations in key states such as Lagos, Rivers, Ogun, and the Federal Capital Territory.
MTN and Airtel also suffered service failures, though to a lesser extent, with five and four incidents reported, respectively. These were primarily attributed to fibre damage and power-related issues in states like Benue, Imo, Bayelsa, and Abia. The financial cost of such damage is steep, with the telecom industry reportedly losing N27 billion in 2023 due to cable repairs and associated revenue losses.
The Nigerian Communications Commission revealed that more than 50,000 fibre cuts occurred in 2024, with 30,000 of them linked to poorly coordinated road construction activities. In Lagos alone, over 2,500 cuts were recorded in 2023, costing telecom firms about N5 billion. Operators warn that these unregulated construction activities and lack of infrastructure security are escalating the financial and operational burdens on the sector.
In response, industry stakeholders are urging the government to enforce stronger infrastructure protection policies. President Bola Tinubu’s executive order in June 2024, which designates ICT infrastructure as critical national assets, is seen as a step in the right direction. Operators are also advocating for a Fibre Protection Framework to centralize regulation, enable real-time infrastructure monitoring, and impose tougher penalties on offenders to curb the recurring damage.
Source: Punch