Ghana’s leading telecommunications network, MTN Ghana has sued two companies, Hisense Son Electronic Ltd and Zuleah Esifu for damage to its fibre cables.

MTN sued Hisense Son Electronic Limited for causing damage to fibre cables on the Sakaman-Kasoa road.

The second company, Zuleah Esifu, was sued after excavators being used for clearing land for the construction of a filling station caused severe damage to MTN fibre.

Fibre cuts compromise service quality for MTN customers and the company has vowed to step up its efforts to curtail the menace, which is on the ascendancy, in spite of time spent engaging stakeholders as a means to mitigating the problem.

Corporate Services Executive, MTN Ghana Cynthia Lumor said “we have been educating the public against these acts for several years now; however every year the number of fibre cuts continues to grow.”

She stated, “MTN invests heavily in fibre-optic technology in order to increase capacity and speed and ensure a distinct experience for MTN customers using voice or data services. For example, customers downloading large data or video files should be able to do so seamlessly because of our fibre and other investments. Unfortunately indiscriminate cuts to our fibre by unscrupulous persons undermine our efforts”.

Mrs. Lumor was optimistic the legal action will deter others and potentially limit the inconvenience to our customers. 

 

Table indicating the rising incidences of fibre cuts

 

2011 1 Jan – 31 Dec	2012 1 Jan – 31 Dec	2013 1 Jan – 31 Dec	2014 Jan to April
239	506	840	283

 

MTN has had to implement various solutions to minimize the impact of fibre cuts to customers, including adding additional protection or diverting some of its fibre routes.  In some cases the company has had to replace degraded fibre along some of the routes eg from Axim to Elubo road at extra cost.