MTN Ghana laments on fibre cuts across the country

The Chief Executive Officer of MTN Ghana, Selorm Adadevoh who disclosed the information said the situation affects their ability to deliver the level of quality of service they want for their consumers.

According to him, the government has to take a keen interest in protecting the fibre cables of the telecommunication industry.

Business implications of this action will be dire especially at the time that there have been calls for a reduction in the cost of data in the country.

He said:

"Today we are working hand in hand with the road contractors. It is a very serious situation which affects ability to deliver the level of service and the quality of service we desire.

"We are having a lot of discussion and support from the regulators we hope we can resolve this issue. We absolutely have to because if we don't, the implications for the business will be dire.”

He added that “this is an industry issue and I think Ghana and the government should be concerned about this as well. We talk a lot about reducing the cost of data. It starts with securing the infrastructure. Fibre has to be a critical national infrastructure and if that happens then the requisite actions will be taken against those who actually cut the fibre and disrupt services."

The disruption in the company’s services caused by fibre cable cuts is on the rise, having suffered 382 incidents between January and March this year, alone.

Ashanti Region recorded the highest number of fibre cuts of 159, representing 41 per cent, above Western, Greater Accra and Central regions.

This disruption again caused the company almost $7.5 (GH¢39 million) in revenue between October 2018 and February 2019, due to such destruction. $1,342 (GH¢7,000) was used to repair each fibre optic cable destroyed.