MTN Nigeria Chief Executive Officer, Karl Olutokun Toriola, has highlighted the harsh realities facing telecommunications operators in the country, revealing that MTN experiences more fibre cuts in a single day in Nigeria than it records in an entire year in Saudi Arabia.
Speaking during an interview on TVC, Toriola described Nigeria’s operating environment as one of the toughest for telecom providers, citing rampant vandalism, uncontrolled road construction and poor infrastructure as major causes of frequent service disruptions.
According to him, the repeated fibre cuts have continued to undermine the quality and reliability of telecom services across the country.
“We experience more fibre cuts in Nigeria in one day than MTN records in Saudi Arabia in a whole year. Most of these disruptions are caused by uncontrolled road construction and vandalism. We have a serious infrastructure challenge,” he said.
Toriola also pointed to Nigeria’s unreliable electricity supply, noting that MTN is forced to install generators at virtually every base station to keep its network running.
“The power challenge is another major issue. We have to provide generators at every base station because of the unstable electricity supply,” he added.
His remarks come amid growing complaints by telecom subscribers over poor network quality and recurring service interruptions across Nigeria.
The comments also follow repeated calls by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), which has directed telecom operators to improve service delivery despite the persistent operational challenges confronting the industry.
