The Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications has expressed its concerns regarding the significant rise in fibre cuts throughout the nation.
Sylvia Owusu-Ankomah, the Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber, cautions that the sector is currently facing over 8,000 fibre cuts each year, a stark contrast to approximately 400 annually during the initial phases of network deployment.
In a media interaction during the Chamber’s 15th anniversary soft launch, she indicated that the increasing frequency of fibre cuts is imposing considerable financial and operational burdens on telecom operators, redirecting resources from network expansion and service enhancement towards repair and maintenance activities.
She noted that the heightened vulnerability of fibre infrastructure is partly due to the swift growth of telecommunications networks over the years, which has propelled internet penetration in Ghana from around 4 percent to more than 70 percent.
She asserts that fibre cuts continue to pose one of the most significant threats to network stability and service reliability in Ghana.
“We are encountering over 8,000 cuts annually concerning fibre cuts, which increasingly strains our operators’ resources. Resources and investments that could have been allocated for new rollouts are instead being utilized to ensure compliance with quality obligations by repairing these fibre cuts.
“Therefore, we aim to ensure that the 15-year journey yields meaningful results, and one of our primary objectives, as I mentioned, is to shift the dialogue away from fibre cuts and progress as a nation,” she stated.
To tackle this issue, the Chamber is advocating for the adoption of the proposed ‘dig once’ policy, which aims to mandate the inclusion of fibre duct infrastructure in major road construction projects.
The Chamber is confident that this policy could greatly enhance network resilience by enabling operators to utilize protected underground ducts.
The sector is seeking government assistance to expedite the execution of the policy, as discussions regarding the proposal have reportedly reached the cabinet level.
The Chamber asserts that addressing the issue of fibre cuts is essential for maintaining network quality and facilitating future digital growth in Ghana’s communications industry.
“This [fibre cuts] has been a persistent problem for the industry for some time, and we believe Ghana is now sufficiently developed to eliminate it. Therefore, we feel that the ‘dig once’ policy must be implemented this year,” stated Sylvia Owusu-Ankomah.
