Lagos orders MTN, Airtel and others to fix sagging fibre-optic cables within 2 days

Lagos State has issued an ultimatum to leading telecom operators to immediately rectify sagging overhead fibre optic cables in Ikeja GRA or face severe regulatory penalties. This follows an official notice on Monday evening from the Lagos State Infrastructure Maintenance and Regulatory Agency (LASIMRA). 

The notice names five major operators, including MTN, Airtel, ipNX, FibreOne, and 21st Century Technologies, and says affected firms have 48 hours to inspect, tighten, and properly secure their overhead fibre infrastructure. 

“Consequently, IPNX, FibreOne, 21st Century, Airtel and MTN are hereby directed to take immediate corrective action by inspecting, securing and rectifying all identified sagging fibre-optic cables within 48 hours of receipt of this notice, subject to any applicable regulatory requirements,” part of the statement reads. 

The action comes following a routine inspection and enforcement patrol conducted in Ikeja GRA by LASIMRA on October 13, 2026, where it identified sagging aerial fibre cables.

Before this directive, residents have often reacted to the uncoordinated manner in which telecom operators deploy overhead fibre optic cables. Whole operators are racing to expand fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) connections to enhance high-speed internet coverage; poorly deployed cables frequently drop low to catch on delivery trucks, snap onto footpaths, or create dangerous visual obstructions for drivers, leading to accidents and network outages in the process. 

While the notice is expected to expire by Wednesday evening, the agency noted that appropriate penalties will be imposed on operators who fail to comply with its regulations. 

“Failure by any of the named providers to comply with this directive within the stipulated time frame will attract appropriate regulatory penalties and further enforcement action in accordance with applicable laws and LASIMRA regulations,” the agency warned. 

In addition, telecom operators are required to submit proof of completing the corrective measures directly to the agency upon finishing the repairs. LASIMRA mentioned that the enforcement comes amid its ongoing campaign to ensure a safer, cleaner, and well-regulated Lagos. 

Also read: A battle for ISP supremacy: between MTN FibreX, Airtel ODU and others

Fibre optic lines for 5G network

The LASIMRA enforcement comes at a time when telecom operators are looking to expand last-mile fibre infrastructure to homes, offices, and commercial hubs through wired connections involving fibre to the X (FTTX) and FTTH.

It’s a push to meet increased data consumption by Nigerians and their complementary demand for high-speed networks, as reliance on mobile networks (4G/5G) creates capacity bottlenecks. Expanding fibre lines frees up spectrum on mobile networks and offloads traffic such as streaming, large file downloads and uploads, 4K videos, cloud computing, and heavy remote work to dedicated fixed fibre networks.

With the increase in fibre optic cable deployment, industry data showed that the FTTX subscriber base for Q2 stood at 319,735, a 29% increase from 241,750 in Q1 2026. Also, MTN FiberX has been a significant push for the FTTX trend, as it possesses 176,468 subscribers and continues to expand across Nigeria’s top cities. 

In spite of reaching nearly 320,000 subscribers, FTTX remains a small fraction of Nigeria’s 158 million total internet subscriptions. This reflects how the market has remained largely unpenetrated for fibre lines and provides a clear picture of internet subscribers’ affordability levels.