Nigerian telecom operators suffer 44,678 fibre cuts in 9 months, NCC data shows

Industry data shows Nigerian telecoms operators experienced 44,678 fibre cuts in the first nine months of 2026, highlighting their major impact on network disruption and poor internet experience.

The extent of the fibre cuts goes beyond disrupting connectivity; they also lead to dropped calls, poor voice quality, and heavily reduced mobile data speeds when traffic fails to reroute properly. For Nigerian subscribers, it shows their experience of incomplete electronic funds transfers, disrupted financial services, delays in task delivery, halted online classes and inaccessible digital platforms.

According to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Quality of Experience report for the first nine months of 2026, leading causes of the significant outages are degradation (17,462 cases), vandalism (9,283 cases) and cable connection issues (9,008 cases).

Other causes are cuts during road construction, unavoidable cuts such as force majeure, maintenance activity, infrastructure deployment issues, surface cable damage, and Rodent/Termite attack.

Fibre cuts between January and September 2026. (Data Source: NCC QoE)

The fibre cuts were more serious in some periods, more than another. For instance, 24,669 cases were recorded in Q2 ‘26, more than half of the 11,419 cases suffered in Q1 ‘26 and the 8,590 cases experienced in Q2 ‘26. In terms of monthly quota, June (10,251 cases) has the highest record of fibre cut incidents, followed by March (9,349 cases) and May (8,236 cases).

Also read: Users demand compensation as MTN restores internet service after 8 hours of downtime.

Nearly 24,000 cases of access denials

Nigerian telecom operators often face restrictions on accessing telecom infrastructure. This occurs when local communities, landowners, local government agents, touts, or labour unions block telecom engineers and service providers from entering or operating network sites such as base stations and mast towers.

When faced with access denials, it takes longer for telecom engineers to repair damaged equipment, refuel base stations or perform routine maintenance.

Statistically, **23,954 cases of access denials **were recorded between January and September 2026. Blockage as a result of insecurity had a 73% share (17,482 cases) of all access denials in the period under review, while June (4,062) recorded the highest number of access denials to telecom infrastructure.

In addition to fibre cuts, access denials directly cause network outages, dropped calls, slow internet speeds, and poor service delivery for millions of subscribers, showing how unauthorised site blockades continue to threaten digital stability and national security. These developments prevailed despite the federal government’s designation of telecom facilities as Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII) under executive orders.

Fibre cuts, Access Denials and Theft Incidents between January and September 2026. (Data Source: NCC QoE)

The quality of experience data also revealed that 3,732 counts of telecom equipment were stolen during the same period. The breakdown shows that 397 batteries and 110 generators were stolen, while 1,270 cases of cable theft and 1,693 cases of diesel theft were also recorded.

MTN, Airtel, Globacom face Reps panel

In light of persistent cases of network outages and consistent complaints by Nigerians, the House of Representatives, in a public hearing in Abuja on Wednesday, has summoned the Chief Executive Officers of MTN, Airtel and Globacom for an explanation over persistent poor network services across the country. They are expected to appear before the House on October 28.

The House Ad Hoc Committee, chaired by Olumide Osoba, representing Ogun State, also directed the NCC to ensure that telecom operators comply with the directive and submit all necessary documents as requested.

When the CEOs appear before the panel in a week’s time, they are expected to explain why the quality of experience has dropped in recent months, which has disrupted the services of individuals and business enterprises. They are also expected to explain the measures being taken to address subscribers’ complaints.

Recall that in early October, MTN Nigeria suffered a significant network outage that affected voice and internet service availability and its FibreX across some parts of several key states, including Lagos, Oyo, Rivers, Delta, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The disruption had a critical effect on millions of subscribers who demanded compensation hours after the operator confirmed service restoration. The compensation makes sense in consideration of how the network disruption had an impact on about-to-expire mobile data.

Also read: NCC cautions road contractors after 5,000+ fibre cuts in H1 2026, sets up protection committee.