Fibre cuts surge from 400 to 8,000 annually as telco industry hits breaking point

Ghana Chamber of Telecommunications reveals a staggering spike in infrastructure vandalism and accidental damage during the launch of the Chamber's 15th anniversary. Chief Executive Officer Sylvia Owusu-Ankomah disclosed that fibre optic cuts have escalated from a manageable 400 cases per year during the early days of network rollout to an overwhelming 8,000 annual incidents. The Chamber links this vulnerability to the nation's own success in digital expansion.

Over the past decade and a half, internet penetration in Ghana has vaulted from a mere 4% to over 70%. Telecommunications companies are being forced to dump millions of cedis into a "repair-and-replace" cycle. Mrs Owusu-Ankomah explained, "We are experiencing over 8,000 cuts per annum when it comes to fibre cuts, which is increasingly a strain on our operators' resources. Resources and investment that could have been used to ensure new rollouts, you find them using it to ensure they are meeting their quality obligations by repairing those fibre cuts." The industry is lobbying for the immediate legalisation of the "Dig Once" policy.

Indications suggest the "Dig Once" policy is currently being debated at the Cabinet level. Mrs Owusu-Ankomah added, "This [fibre cuts] has been a plague of the industry for quite a while and we believe Ghana has matured enough to put a stop to it. That is why for us the 'dig once' policy needs to come to life this year." Without the "Dig Once" intervention, the Chamber warns that service reliability will continue to fluctuate, directly impacting Ghana's digital economy.