Association of Telecommunication Companies Of Nigeria (ATCON) has highlighted fibre cuts as a major stumbling block to the Nigerian telecom sector’s growth and affirmed its readiness to take strategic measures to tackle submarine fibre disruption in the country.

Tony Emoekpere, president of ATCON, at the first edition of ATCON’s Critical Conversation Breakfast Meeting held in Lagos with the theme: ‘the Direct And Indirect Cause And Impact Of Metro, Terrestrial And Submarine Fibre Disruptions (Cuts)–Short, Medium And Long Term Sustainable Solutions’, stated that, operators cannot continue to pay lip service to issues and challenges that have constituted stumbling block to the telecom sector growth.

The president recall that few months ago, there was a reported case of submarine cuts which significantly impacted Nigeria and some African countries, adding that, “The incidences of Metro, Terrestrial and Submarine Fibre Disruptions have become a recurring decimal which must be addressed by relevant agencies at all levels of government. Our members have had to pay a substantial amount of money to have all these disruptions fixed and this is impacting on their operational expenses which should not be if the perpetrators are brought to book.”

On advocacy, the president said ATCON is seeking ways going forward, adding that ducts should be built when new roads are being constructed. “There is a need to enforce and implement the provision in the Nigeria National Broadband Band Plan 2020-2025 which states that NCC should have a desk officer in each state of the Federation who is expected to be in charge of the fiber network in order to minimize Fiber cuts during roads construction,” he recommended.

The president averred that the telecom sector has been reported to contribute over 14 per cent to the nation’s GDP, adding that, the sector could have done much better if issues like fiber disruption which has constituted a threat to the manifestation of its inherent potentials, is dealt with.

Emoekpere however stressed the need for more collaboration between telecoms operators and government, with developers and road contractors to mitigate the challenges of fiber cuts.

“There must be compensation for fibre cable cuts. Training and awareness creation on the importance of fibre cable and the danger and negative impact of fibre cable cut, cannot be overemphasised. The federal government should declare telecoms assets as Critical National Infrastructure (CNI).

“Government should come up with policies like ‘Dig Once Policy’ for the implementation of fibre laying to avoid operators damaging cables of other operators during cable laying. There must be a clear database of government agencies giving approvals for road construction to enable telecom companies to have an idea of who they are dealing with as well as the need to have a status update on task responsibilities of ATCON for a follow-up of ATCON activities,” he advocated.

In the same vein, Lekan Balogun, CEO of NetAccess, said, the major causes of fibre cable cut includes Govt/Private Contractors, Man made, planning and Design and Natural causes, while stressing that, there is need for constant engagement between ATCON members, the government and developers.

Balogun proposed short, medium and long term recommendations to forestall fibre cuts, adding that the use of protective materials like metals rather than plastics will help protect the cables from unwanted cuts.

Credit: Leadership

Starlink, Elon Musk’s Internet company, has emerged as Nigeria’s third-largest Internet Service Provider (ISP) with 23,897 subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to latest ISP data released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on Monday.

According to the NCC data, Starlink’s active customers in Nigeria surged 113 per cent in Q4 2023, from 11,207 customers in the previous quarter, establishing it as one of the leading ISPs in the country.

Spectranet, one of the oldest ISPs in the country, maintained its top position in the market with 113,869 active customers.

FiberOne followed in second place with 27,000 active users at the end of 2023.

ISPs are different from mobile Internet providers, like the telcos such as MTN, Airtel, etc.

They provide Internet through various wired technologies, such as DSL, cable, fibre-optic, or satellite connections. They use fixed infrastructure that requires a physical connection to the home or business.

Starlink launched its services in Nigeria in January 2023, becoming the first African country to receive the service, more than 20 months after SpaceX met with the NCC to outline their deployment plans.

Meanwhile, Spectranet, one of the oldest ISPs in the country, maintained its top position in the market with 113,869 active customers.

FiberOne followed in second place with 27,000 active users at the end of 2023.

ISPs are different from mobile Internet providers, like the telcos such as MTN, Airtel, etc.

They provide Internet through various wired technologies, such as DSL, cable, fibre-optic, or satellite connections.

They use fixed infrastructure that requires a physical connection to the home or business.

Starlink launched its services in Nigeria in January 2023, becoming the first African country to receive the service, more than 20 months after SpaceX met with the NCC to outline their deployment plans.

As of September 2023, just 8 months after its launch, Starlink had amassed 11,207 active subscribers in Nigeria, making it the fourth largest ISP in the country.

Airtel Africa, telecommunications and mobile money services provider, has revealed that its subsidiary, Bharti Airtel International (Netherlands) B.V., has repaid in full its $550m bond maturing Monday.

This was disclosed in a corporate filing with the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NDX) signed by G Simon O’Hara, group company secretary, on Monday.

With this repayment, the company said that it had achieved a zero-debt position at the HoldCo.

The $550m bond was 5.35 per cent Guaranteed Senior Notes.

“This bond repayment of $550m has been made exclusively out of cash reserves at the holding company and is a continuation of its strategy to reduce external foreign currency debt. At the time of the IPO in June 2019, the group had $2,719m of external debt at HoldCo which resulted in significant exposure to currency fluctuations and the reliance on upstreaming funds to cover both interest costs and the principal repayment.
“Through consistent execution of its strategy supporting strong free cash flow generation, and continued upstreaming success, the group has been reducing Holdco debt over the past few years and has now reached the significant milestone of a zero-debt position at HoldCo. The current leverage and capital structure is a reflection of the Group’s successful capital allocation strategy that has been in place since our IPO, and it will aim to continue reducing foreign currency debt obligations across its OpCo’s,” part of the statement from the telecoms provider said.