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| MTN engineers work on fibre cable repairs |
It was a quiet Friday until telecom logs and regulator notices pushed the city chatter back into the headlines. MTN Nigeria is set to carry out repair work and planned maintenance on damaged fibre routes that recent incident reports show are affecting parts of Adamawa and Borno states.
The Nigerian Communications Commission’s incident records list multiple fibre cuts in those north-east localities. The entries name towns and local areas where SMS, voice and data links were degraded, with cause traced to damaged fibre lines and construction activity.
Across the north-west, the regulator’s logs also record fibre and service incidents that have touched Kano in recent weeks. Those entries show similar symptoms — spotty voice service, slow data, and temporary outages where repair crews must work on long-haul cable segments.
MTN itself has a long habit of posting maintenance and service advisories on its support channels and social feeds. The operator uses those platforms to warn users when upgrades or fixes may interrupt service, and to explain that crews are working to restore normal links.
This kind of damage is not rare. Industry analyses and recent reporting show fibre cuts remain the top cause of major network hits across Nigeria. In the first half of this year telecom firms logged dozens of major outages tied to broken fibre, often caused by road works, vandalism, or botched digging. Repair teams must sometimes reroute traffic or schedule downtime to reach and fix the affected cable.
For users in the named states, the short version is blunt and simple. Expect some dropped calls, slower data, and possibly temporary loss of internet access while engineers cut, splice, and test the fibre. Mobile banking apps, messaging, and streaming can be hit where the local backbones feed large numbers of customers.
Telecom firms and the federal agencies have been trying to stamp down the problem for years. A joint committee set up to protect fibre lines from accidental cuts has rolled out guidelines for road builders and contractors, and regulators have pushed for better on-site marking of cable runs. Yet the incidents keep coming, and operators spend millions to repair or reroute vulnerable segments.
On the ground, the work is slow and often tricky. Fibre runs snake along busy roads and across open fields, and reaching a damaged point sometimes means getting permission from local communities. Engineers may need heavy gear, trenching equipment, or temporary power to finish a splice, which can stretch a planned maintenance window into a longer outage.
Carriers also have to deal with frustrated customers. When people use their phones to send money, book trips, or run small businesses, even a short outage hits hard. That’s why teams rush out fast, reroute traffic through backup lines, and keep posting updates so folks know what’s happening.
If you live in Adamawa, Borno or Kano, there are a few simple steps that cut down the pain while MTN works. Restart your device before calling support — it clears local network handshakes. Save critical transfers for when the operator confirms full restoration. Keep a second contact method ready, like a different network or a Wi-Fi point, if you can. These are plain, useful moves that save grief.
Regulatory records show that MTN has flagged similar maintenance plans in the past as the best way to secure long-haul routes after a major cut. The NCC’s public “INC” logs list both incidents and the operators’ intended remedial actions, and those logs are the official paper trail that customers and businesses can check.
The financial side is painful, too. Industry data in the public domain have tallied repair bills in the millions of dollars across a single year, with relocation and protection of vulnerable segments adding to the cost. For operators, each fibre cut eats into funds that could have expanded service into rural communities.
Still, telecom engineers know their drills and their splices. When crews reach the damaged segment, they test pairs, replace broken stretches, and run diagnostics. If the cut lies in an accessible roadside duct, repairs can be quick. If the route crosses remote terrain or needs an underpass repair, it takes longer. The timeline depends on site access, safety and power.
Local businesses that sell airtime or rely on mobile payments feel the pinch fast. A store that uses USSD menus for billing or a market stall that receives transfers through mobile wallets will notice strain when the backbone slows. Many such operators try to keep cash on hand for those days, or switch briefly to alternate networks where possible.
MTN and other carriers also run short, rolling maintenance windows to keep the rest of the network healthy. Those planned windows can be scheduled late at night or in low-traffic hours to limit impact. But when a damaged fibre forces an emergency fix, the carrier may work in daylight, and some services will drop while reroutes are put in place.
Public sector buys time, too. The NCC has tightened rules that require operators to publish notices when a major outage will affect service, and the commission’s portal hosts a running list of incidents and responses. That transparency gives customers a place to check whether an outage is local or part of a wider backbone problem.
On social feeds, MTN’s support accounts often post quick updates and apologies, then explain the technical steps being taken. Those posts appear widely when outages hit, and they can serve as the fastest public signal that a repair team is on the road. Watch those channels for timing and confirmation of restoration.
Engineers say the long-term fix is clear: better mapping of fibre paths, closer coordination with roadworks, and stronger community engagement. The idea is to stop accidental cuts before they happen, and to make repair paths quicker and cheaper when damage does occur. The plans exist; the work, everyone admits, is the harder part.
For now, MTN customers in the listed localities should expect targeted maintenance activity and possible short-term disruption while technicians mend the damaged routes. The NCC incident logs list affected towns and the operator’s response steps, and those entries are the official source for tracking progress.