50,000 Telecom Installations Destroyed in Five Years, NCC Reveals

Emma Okonji

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has revealed that over 50,000 cases of major destruction to telecom infrastructure and facilities were reported across the country in the past five years.

NCC, Nigeria’s independent regulatory authority for the telecommunications industry, consequently raised the alarm over the implication of these incidents to the quality of telecommunication services in Nigeria.

The Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta disclosed the figure at the 2022 Youth Civil Society and Stakeholders Summit (YCSSS), which took place recently at the Army Resource Centre, Abuja.

At the summit, Danbatta expressed worry over how these incidents have continued to affect the Quality of Experience (QoE) of consumers, and called for concerted efforts by the members of the public, and security agencies, to stem the tide.

Danbatta, who spoke through the Head, Corporate Communications Unit of the Commission, Mrs. Nnena Ukoha, said the negative impacts of incessant vandalism of telecom equipment, evidenced in fibre cuts, theft of telecom facilities like generators at sites, vandalism of base stations, among other vices, had become a major burden on the service providers, while telecom consumers had continued to suffer unwarranted disruptions of their hard-earned services.

He said: “The impact of vandalism of infrastructure is felt by all in the quality of services rendered as it results in increasing drop calls, data and Internet connectivity disruptions, aborted and undelivered short messaging services (SMS), as well as countless failed calls.”

Danbatta said considering the well-known fact that the ability to connect and communicate is fundamental to human existence, improvement in businesses processes, government services, education, as well as social and family networking through seamless connections, every community should get involved in protecting the critical infrastructure that makes these services possible.

He therefore said: “As a community, you are expected to report cases of vandalism of telecoms infrastructure to the nearest law enforcement agencies such as the Police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, and also share adequate information received from NCC with your family, friends, and neighbours.

“We believe, with your cooperation as critical stakeholders in the telecoms sector, we can all work with the law enforcement authorities in protecting telecom infrastructure in your community,” Danbatta said.

He, therefore, emphasised the role of the communities in protecting critical national assets.