9 States Suffer Telecom Network Outages as NCC Orders MTN, Airtel, Others to Compensate Customers
- Nine states in Nigeria suffered network disruptions caused by fibre cuts, affecting voice calls, SMS, USSD, and data
- Data from the NCC live portal shows that Nigeria’s four major network operators suffered network outages in the first week of June 2025
- The NCC data showed that Airtel was the worst hit, with two disruptions in two days, while Rivers State was the most affected
Legit.ng’s Pascal Oparada has reported on tech, energy, stocks, investment and the economy for over a decade.
About nine Nigerian states suffered network disruptions in the first week of June 2025 due to multiple fibre cuts.
This is according to data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) live incident portal.
Source: UGC
SMS, voice calls, data, and others were affected
According to the data, the disruptions affected the four major operators, including Airtel, MTN, 9Mobile, and Glo, with disruptions reported in Rivers, Katsina, Lagos, Enugu, Benue, Anambra, Imo, Abia, and Akwa Ibom states.
The report showed that fibre cuts accounted for most of the outages in the period under review, which affected several services, including data, voice calls, SMS, and USSD.
Airtel suffers major outages
Per the report, Airtel was the worst hit, as it suffered fibre cuts between June through June 5, 2025.
The NCC data showed that the first cut occurred in June in Rivers State, affecting data services in Degema, Obio-Akpo, and Port Harcourt for about two hours.
Another disruption occurred the next day in the same areas, lasting over one hour,
On June 5, 2025, the telco reported another disruption caused by fibre failure in Anambra and Imo states, including in Ideato North, Owerri Municipal, and Owerri West.
The incident disrupted USSD and SMS and lasted over one hour.
9Mobile records disruptions
9Mobile recorded two major fibre cuts in the same period. On June 1, the company reported a disruption in Katsina, which affected 11 local government areas, including Daura, Funtua, and Dutsin-Ma.
The disruption also lasted for over one hour, impacting all service channels.
Another incident involving 9Mobile occurred on June 2, 2025, in Lagos, leading to significant disruption in several areas such as Apapa, Lagos Island, Mushin, and Surulere.
The outage lasted four hours and 20 minutes, which was the longest of the week.
MTN and Glo announce fibre cuts
MTN announced a fibre cut on June 2, affecting parts of Benue and several other locations in Enugu State, including Nsukka, Udi, Isi Uzo, and Igbo Eze South, lasting for less than one hour.
The NCC’s live report said that SMS, voice, and data services were impacted during the outage.
Glo also logged a fibre cut report on June 5, which disrupted services in Abia, Akwa Ibom, Imo, and Rivers, including Aba North, Umuahia South, and Okigwe.
On June 3, 2025, MTN reported a power cut that affected service delivery in Borno and Gombe states.
Affected Nigerian states
Other affected areas include Maiduguri, Gombe, Biu, Dukku, and Yamaltu/Deba.
Globacom also reported that vandals disrupted telecom services in Enugu State and Abuja.
According to the telecommunication company, the incident affected services in Enugu East, Enugu North, and Enugu South for over two hours.
The outages affected call telecom services, including voice calls, SMS, USSD, and internet services.
An analysis shows that Rivers State was the worst hit, suffering outages twice in two days, involving Airtel infrastructure.
Enugu State experienced service disruptions from MTN and Glo, while 9Mobile outages happened in Katsina and Lagos.
NCC orders telcos to compensate for outages
Other affected states include Anambra, Imo, Abia, Akwa Ibom, Benue, and Gombe states, with some locations being affected more than others.
Punch reports that the NCC’s new portal offers a real-time view into service disruptions and response times, giving transparency that industry watchers say was timely.
Source: Getty Images
The development came amid a new order by the NCC, mandating telecom operators to compensate subscribers for outages and disruptions lasting over 24 hours.
MTN reacts as Nigerians fume over network outage
Legit.ng earlier reported that Nigerians have expressed frustration after waking up to terrible network issues on Tuesday, May 6, 2025.
For reasons unknown to customers, they are unable to connect to social media or use various data applications despite having sufficient data.
When a Legit.ng correspondent, who experienced a similar issue, reached out to the customer care centre of MTN Nigeria. The telco representative apologised for the network disruption but assured that the particular case would be forwarded to the customer care support unit for a proper check.
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Source: Legit.ng
