- CEO Stephen Blewett identifies fibre cuts as a top threat to network stability.
- A recent incident saw 157 sites go offline due to infrastructure damage.
- MTN calls for proactive management and better protection of underground cables.
The Chief Executive Officer of MTN Ghana, Stephen Blewett, has raised a major alarm over the devastating impact of persistent fibre cuts on the nation’s telecommunications infrastructure. Speaking at the CEO’s Corner session with Bernard Avle during the MTN Ghana Media and Stakeholder Forum on Friday, April 17, 2026, Blewett revealed that a single wave of fibre damage recently brought down about 157 network sites.
This problem of the sector underscores a reality: when a main fibre line is severed often by road construction or vandalism it doesn’t just affect one neighborhood; it triggers a roadmap of widespread outages. Blewett explained that the interconnected nature of MTN’s network means a cut in one location can paralyze dozens of cell sites simultaneously, leading to the frustrating signal drops and slow data speeds reported by subscribers.
“It’s not really just talking about cutting fibre to someone’s home. When you cut fibre, you bring down all those sites, and that’s problematic. So the experience is bad. We have to proactively manage that,” the CEO stated. He warned that until there is a national solution to protect underground infrastructure, the threat to seamless service delivery in 2026 remains high.
MTN has committed to an aggressive strategy to repair and protect these vital links, but the CEO emphasized that public and private contractors must be more cautious. For the millions of users across the country, these fibre cuts are the primary reason behind intermittent network downtime, and the company is calling for more stringent protections to ensure a stable digital future for all.
