MTN apologised yesterday to their subscribers for the service hitches they have experienced for some days.
The MNOs, under the aegis of the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), blamed the service disruptions on “severe fibre cuts” by contractors.
“There are reports of multiple fibre cuts that took a toll on the integrity of our networks,” ALTON Chairman Gbenga Adebayo told The Nation.
He explained that since fibre optic cables are laid under the ground, they are highly susceptible to cuts during road and other infrastructure constructions.
Most subscribers yesterday experienced the worst service disruptions, especially those in Lagos, who rely on their mobile phones for business and social activities.
A subscriber and CEO of Sanjoks Enterprises, Esther Kokumo, described her experience as harrowing.
She said: “The usual method of payment each time I go to the factory is either through the use of a Point of Sale Machine (PoS) or transfer through my bank account.
“After calculating my bill, I already had the account number of the company and I tried to transfer cash, but no luck. When I tried doing the same via PoS, it just kept buffering.”
Kokumode told The Nation that she was only allowed to go on self-recognition.
An Enugu-based subscriber, Chukwuma Ohia, said he promised to pay for goods sent to him on Monday from Lagos but could not due to network failure.
Ohia said: “I received a consignment on Monday which I had promised to make a payment today (yesterday), but to my shock, the network disappointed me. By the time I realised that the network would not work, it was too late for me to enter the banking hall. I am used to transferring cash within the comfort of my office, using my mobile App or USSD.
“The service providers should please note that our livelihoods now depend on the network.”
Also, telecommunication subscribers who have not linked their SIMs to their NINs will from this morning be cut off by the telcos.
The Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) announced this at its special day at the 45th Kaduna International Trade Fair yesterday in Kaduna.
The commission said the telcos must deactivate unlinked SIMs since it has not been served last Monday’s court order stopping its directive.
NCC Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer Aminu Maida, who was represented by Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Mouka, said as a matter of critical national security, owners of such SIMs must link them to their NINs.
As the challenge persisted, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) insisted that its December 2023 directive to the MNOs/telcos to deactivate all Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs) not linked to the National Identification Numbers (NINs) of their users remained unchanged.
MTN, which is Nigeria’s largest carrier and worst hit by the fibre cuts, appealed for the understanding to its 87,038,768 customers.
Comments