Following complaints by telco subscribers on service outages, the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) has, on behalf of its members, pleaded with subscribers to exercise patience as the situation is being remedied.
ALTON President, Gbenga Adebayo disclosed that some of its member operators had recently encountered service interruptions – which could persist for a short time due to the state of unrest in the country triggered by the Lekki massacre.
Movement restrictions and the volatility on the streets is inhibiting the restoration of service because engineers have not been able to move about to fix the problems.
ALTON President, Gbenga Adebayo
A number of MTN subscribers in Lekki area of Lagos had yesterday complained of network disruptions after #EndSARS protesters were attacked by army operatives. Users of Airtel and some other network operators in the state also reported experiencing slow internet.
While many agitated persons felt the outages were planned beforehand, Adebayo has stated that none of it was intentional. We suggested in this report that resolving the situation may be hampered by the unrest spreading across the country.
Suggested read: Our Youth and the Protests – Looking Beyond #EndSARS by Austin Okere
Poor Internet Service May Linger Amid Unrest
Network glitches and slow internet speeds in Lagos and other parts of the country may continue for a while due to the present agitations and insecurity. This is despite the fact that telcos are working to fix existing service outages.
Amid the unrest, Adebayo has appealed to aggrieved youths blocking movements to allow telco operators access to facilities for maintenance and repairs.
We, therefore, appeal to our brothers and sisters who are still at the barricades, to please grant access to our member operator engineers to be able to access the affected locations to restore telecom services.
ALTON President, Gbenga Adebayo
Adebayo also stressed that telecom operators are leveraging all possible means to resolve the service disruptions experienced by subscribers.
“Engineers are making relentless effort round the clock to resolve issues, while in the interim, efforts are being made to optimize coverage utilising alternative solutions as a stop-gap solution to the most impacted locations,” he said.
Service Disruptions Caused by Power Outages
ALTON President, Gbenga Adebayo has revealed that the slow internet and poor network quality across some telcos was brought about by power failures.
According to him, utility interruptions had occurred across some major routes in Lagos metropolis and other states which resulted in the congestion of networks.
It is indeed very likely that some network facilities have been tampered with during the clashes between irate youths and security personnel. Although there have been no reports of direct attacks on telecoms facility, media stations such as TVC and Lagos TV were reportedly set on fire by angry mobs.
Suggested read: #ENDSARS: 8 Location Sharing Apps to Help Track and Find Loved Ones
This actions may have strained telco utilities in the affected areas. Adebayo said that the power outages led to other operational constraints which have hampered effective service delivery.
In summary, the need for effective voice and internet communications at this critical period cannot be overemphasised. That said, ALTON has explained that it must also ensure the safety of its staff across the country as it tries to fix network disruptions.
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