‘Fibre cut threat to telecommunications’

Fibre cuts affect service providers

Frequent fibre cuts and theft of cables in the Western Region are a worrying phenomenon and also a national security issue, MTN Regional Technical Manager in-charge of Western and Central regions, Teddy Hayford Acquah, has lamented.

He added “We experience power cable, feeder cable, fibre cable and joint box and active telecom equipment theft. These are caused by high demand at the scrap market. Indeed, these activities frustrate our operations to extend services to corners of the Western Region especially those in the fringes.”

Mr Acquah disclosed these in an interview with The Spectator on operational challenges MTN Ghana faced in providing smooth services to customers in the Western Region on the sidelines of a media interaction in Takoradi, last Thursday.

Other key challenges including galamsey, sand winning, estate development and road construction are also undermining MTN Ghana’s efforts to roll out fibre transmission lines and improve networks throughout the entire western corridor.

“Fibre cuts affect businesses. In 2021, the Western Region recorded in excess of 275 fibre cuts, increasing to 230 in August this year, we’ve just covered half year and you can imagine the impacts of these human activities on our network connectivity and quality of services we roll out to our customers,” Mr Acquah stressed.

To reduce the cuts and interruption of services, the engineer said, MTN Ghana was intensifying the education and the community engagements through media platforms, explaining that, the cost in repairs and relocation, could be channelled into social interventions, and even built and expanded the network.

 “We are laising with security and law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute those who will be found culpable of the law,” he told The Spectator.

He added “The cost of replacement or relocation per kilometre, is in excess of GH¢100,000. We are soliciting everybody’s support to come on board for us to trigger that conversation on how we can all curtail this challenge. Of course, we need the roads, fuel stations, private property but we need to work together and ensure that there is balance between these and our fibre infrastructure.”

From Clement Adzei Boye, Takoradi