On Wednesday, millions of subscribers found themselves in a predicament, leading many to visit their nearest MTN offices seeking clarification.
MTN Nigeria, a telecommunications company, clarified that the network disruption encountered by its subscribers for the majority of Wednesday was due to “multiple fibre cuts.”
According to data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), as of December 2023, MTN boasts 87,038,768 subscribers, constituting 38.79% of the total market share, the highest among all licensed Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) in the country.
On Wednesday, the millions of subscribers affiliated with MTN experienced difficulties in making and receiving calls for several hours. This occurrence sparked rumors suggesting that the NCC had enforced its ultimatum, threatening to disconnect all telcos except subscribers linked to their National Identification Numbers (NIN) by February 28, 2024.
As a result of the disruption, numerous subscribers found themselves stranded, prompting some individuals to seek clarifications by visiting the nearest MTN offices.
However, MTN, in a post on X (formerly Twitter), attributed the situation to “multiple fibre cuts.”
“You have been experiencing challenges connecting to the network due to a major service outage caused by multiple fibre cuts affecting voice and data services,” the post read.
“Our engineers are working hard to resolve with services gradually being restored in some areas.
“We apologise for the inconvenience and ask for your patience and understanding as the team works to restore full service as soon as possible.”
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the NCC issued an instruction to telecommunications service providers to block subscribers who have not linked their phone numbers to their NIN by February 28, 2024.
The Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Aminu Maida, emphasized the directive during the 45th Kaduna International Trade Fair on Wednesday, conveyed through the Director of Public Affairs, Ruben Mouka. He underscored the imperative of linking NIN to SIM cards as a critical national security measure for telecom consumers.
