The Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Gbenga Adebayo, has attributed the network disruptions affecting phone signals across the country to vandalism and diesel theft.
Addressing concerns over persistent dropped calls, Adebayo said the primary causes are not the operators but sustained infrastructure sabotage by criminal elements. He noted that fibre optic cables are frequently cut during road construction, while diesel theft at cell sites remains widespread, placing critical infrastructure under pressure.
Adebayo explained that the high capital investment required to maintain telecom infrastructure has led operators to adopt colocation, a model that allows multiple service providers to share masts and towers in order to reduce costs. Emphasising the interconnected nature of the system, he said: ‘At the end of the day, we have one national network. So, the issues are common to all of us and the solution should be collective’.
He also highlighted the operational risks faced by field engineers, noting that in several areas technicians are unable to respond to outages after 6:00 p.m. due to security threats, including the risk of attacks by armed vandals. ‘We have territories that we cannot access because of issues of security’, he said.
Citing an example from a Lekki neighbourhood, Adebayo said residents endured four months without public power while still expecting uninterrupted telecom services, a situation he described as difficult given that operators often pay local groups to facilitate diesel supply to base stations.
Beyond physical damage, he said the industry is under broader systemic strain, adding that the challenges faced by telecom operators reflect the wider economic pressures affecting citizens.
He reiterated that telecommunications operate as a single national network, where disruptions to a fibre link or a site in one location can trigger wider service outages, countering claims that operators deliberately provide poor-quality service.
Adebayo called for stronger protection of telecom infrastructure, stressing that acts of sabotage continue to undermine service delivery. He said improved security for fibre networks and cell sites by government and communities remains essential to reducing service disruptions despite ongoing investment in the sector.
