Telecom boss urges operators to rely on aerial fibre services

According to him, aerial fibre optic routes offer both cheaper and more reliable services than their terrestrial equivalent and in view of recent experiences facing operators, there is need for them to adopt this aerial service to keep their customers happy.

Jegede, who spoke in Abuja recently, stated that with the current challenges facing the deployment and use of underground optic fiber cables, especially Right of Way issues, persistent vandalism and ecological problems, aerial optic fiber systems offer the needed and timely solution at this time in the country.

He said, “We are all aware about the problems of building and maintaining underground cables in Nigeria. It is one of the most difficult challenges that telecom firms face today in view of issues such as host community hostilities, persistent construction of roads and its attendant impact on underground cables. Besides, excessive and unlawful regulatory activities by various agencies of government at different levels and environmental and natural disasters such as erosion sometimes leaves underground cables exposed.

“We have also witnessed persistent vandalism and theft of underground cables all over the country, all of which exacerbate the problem of poor quality of services as large numbers of subscribers are cut off when these problems occur. These problems also take a lot of time to identify and repair. However, the aforementioned issues and many more can easily be overcome by the use of aerial optic fibre system.”

He added that in view of today’s reality in which the West Africa region, including Nigeria, is still a developing region, road construction and the building of other infrastructure would be very frequent, leading to underground cables often being cut.