MTN Records Over 9,200 Fibre Cuts In 2025, CEO Reveals
MTN Nigeria has disclosed that its network experienced 9,218 fibre cuts in 2025, drawing renewed attention to the ongoing fragility of the country’s telecommunications infrastructure.
The disclosure was made by the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Karl Olutokun Toriola, in a LinkedIn post titled “MTN Nigeria 2025 Wrapped.” He noted that incidents of theft and vandalism also affected 211 MTN sites by the end of November, compounding service disruptions across the network.
According to Toriola, each incident had a direct impact on millions of Nigerians who rely on MTN’s services daily, making network resilience an increasingly difficult task.
“By the end of September 2025, more than 85 million subscribers had chosen MTN,” he said. “As our customer base grows, so does our responsibility. Fibre cuts, theft, and vandalism disrupt services, and we acknowledge the realities our customers face.”
MTN also reported handling over 1.6 million customer complaints during the year, received through phone calls, emails, social media platforms, and physical service centres. The CEO explained that the feedback helps the company assess where service delivery met expectations and where improvements are urgently needed.
Industry data supports MTN’s claims. Figures from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Uptime portal show that telecom operators recorded 118 network outage incidents in December 2025 alone, with MTN accounting for 64 of those disruptions. The NCC attributed the outages to fibre cuts, power failures, bushfires, and vandalism of telecom facilities.
Despite the setbacks, Toriola reaffirmed MTN’s commitment to improving service quality. He said the company remains focused on placing customers at the heart of its operations, even as it confronts infrastructure and security challenges.
“We are not where we want to be yet,” he said, “but our dedication to our customers has not changed. We hear them, we value them, and we will continue to improve.”
Telecom operators across Nigeria have long struggled with service interruptions linked to vandalism and accidental damage to infrastructure. Although government interventions have increased in recent years, the problem remains widespread.
In August 2024, President Bola Tinubu classified telecom assets as critical national information infrastructure, making intentional damage a criminal offence. This was followed by the launch of a public reporting platform by the NCC in May 2025 and the establishment of an interministerial committee in February 2025 to address fibre cuts caused by road construction.
However, enforcement has remained weak. Reports of arrests and prosecutions are rare, even as incidents continued to rise after May 2025. Industry experts attribute the situation to cable theft for black-market resale, construction-related damage, bush burning, and restricted access to network sites – factors that have led to revenue losses for operators and declining service quality for subscribers.
