The Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications has warned that the growing fibre optic cable cuts threaten the national fibre stability.

The chamber urged the government and stakeholders to act immediately to address the deteriorating phenomenon of fibre cuts, which is causing network disruptions and compromising quality service delivery.

The chamber has therefore launched a nationwide campaign to raise public awareness about the importance of preserving Ghana’s fibre infrastructure.

The campaign dubbed, “Save Our Fibre,” comes in response to an alarming increase in the rate of recurrence of fibre optic cable cuts in recent times, which pose a significant threat to the stability and reliability of the national fibre backbone.

The Chamber’s campaign seeks to educate the public and stakeholders about the vital role that fibre optic cables play in Ghana’s telecommunications network, which underpins internet connectivity, communication services, and overall digital transformation. 

A statement issued by Mr. Louis Bobbie Osei, Regulatory and Research Manager of the Chamber,

The statement urged swift collaborative action to mitigate the risks posed by the fibre cuts, which are putting the national fibre backbone at risk.

“The Chamber is deeply concerned about the high incidence of fibre cuts that have been damaging the nation’s telecommunications infrastructure and, in the process, impacting customers’ network experience,” the statement said.

According to the chamber, in the first half of 2024 alone, there were a total of 5,133 cuts across Ghana, of which the telecommunications industry ended up using GHS 118 million to repair these cuts.

“This means that funds that we could have used to expand and enhance the existing services had to be reallocated to repair these damaged fibre networks,” it said.

The chamber emphasised the importance of fibre in the modern telecoms industry as a critical resource laid underground or strung above ground to connect to the network operating systems to provide faster data transfers, supporting high bandwidth applications and services.

It also ensures real-time communication and seamless connectivity and is known to be very reliable, offering a secure choice for data transmission.

Additionally, it is resistant to spatial interferences and ensures clear transmissions while in many cases, fibre is the most preferred resource for providing seamless telecommunications services and remains an essential component of modern network operations.

The chamber further highlighted the impact of fibre cuts on service quality and customer experience, saying that, although fibre is expected to be secure when buried underground, the experience in Ghana is quite different.

The chamber noted that there were frequent cuts and damages to fibre laid across the country and these frequent disruptions directly affected the quality and availability of telecom services to Ghanaians, disrupting communication, internet connectivity, and other essential services that rely on networks.

“These cuts, sadly, impact customer experiences. It creates congestion, poor voice calls, slow internet experience, and, in some cases, completely cuts off network services,” the statement said.

It stressed that, “This situation is unacceptable, and it undermines the significant investments made by telecom operators to deliver reliable services.”

Notwithstanding, the chamber noted some ongoing efforts to address the issue and that in response to the challenges, the Chamber has been proactively engaging with the Minister of Roads and Highways, road agencies, road contractors, utility companies, and other key stakeholders who undertake major constructions and excavations in the country.

Their efforts included active participation in the National Engineering Coordinating Team meetings, where the chamber continues to push for better collaboration to protect telecom infrastructure during construction and utility activities.

Despite these efforts, it stated that, some entities involved in these damaging activities have remained recalcitrant, repeatedly causing harm to critical telecom infrastructure.

These actions have had a direct impact on service quality, leading to outages, slowdowns, and interruptions that frustrate telecom subscribers and hinder the country’s digital progress.

Therefore, the chamber is taking stronger measures to ensure that Ghanaians continue to receive high-quality service by not only ramping up its engagement with the relevant stakeholders but also seeking the support of the Police and Judiciary to prosecute those responsible for these recurrent fibre cuts.

The Chamber has also proposed that its members consider taking legal action against uncooperative individuals and entities, ensuring they are held accountable according to the law.

In addition to these measures, the Telecoms Chamber believes it is essential to inform the public about the link between fibre cuts and the quality of service they experience, which culminated in undertaking the “Save Our Fibre” campaign to publicly highlight which construction projects are leading to fibre cuts and the communities that suffer as a result.

The campaign is expected to be rolled out across social media platforms, where the public would be regularly updated on the steps being taken to fix the damaged fibre.

The Chamber restated that it remained committed to ensuring that all subscribers enjoyed uninterrupted, high-quality telecom services.

“We will continue to work tirelessly with all stakeholders to protect our nation’s telecom infrastructure and to hold accountable those who undermine it,” the statement said.