Site icon Ghanaian Times

Fibre optic destruction by contractors: Telcos spend GH¢84.1m to repair fibre cuts – Ken Ashigbey

Dr Kenneth Ashigbey

Dr Kenneth Ashigbey

Telecommunication companies in the country spent GH¢84.1 million last year to fix 6,232 fibre optic cables destroyed by contractors during ex­cavation work for various projects.

Data from the Ghana Cham­ber of Telecommunications indicate that the average cost per repair was GH¢382,492.61 while the damage causes service disruptions and financial losses to the networks.

To address the persistent fibre cuts and make the contractors take responsibility for their actions, the chamber is prepar­ing to take legal action against contractors who damage the cables.

The Chamber’s Chief Execu­tive Officer (CEO), Dr Kenneth Ashigbey, disclosed to the Gha­naian Times on Monday, that the chamber was collaborating with state institutions to pursue both criminal and civil actions.

Noting that the financial impact of these fibre cuts was becoming unsustainable, Dr Ashigbey warned, “We’re getting to the point where we may have to pass this cost on to subscribers.”

He said the legal action had been the last resort after several engagements with contractors on how to handle their con­struction without damaging the fibre cables.

“We’ve been talking to the road agencies; we’ve been talking to the contractors. This year, for example, we went to the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Contractors Association. There’s a body also called the National Engineering Coordinating Team where all the road agencies meet. Despite these efforts, some contractors remain recalcitrant,” he said.

Dr Ashigbey said a specialised court has been established to handle these cases, and judges have received training on the implications of fibre cuts for national security and service quality.

He explained that the damage of fibre cables by the contrac­tors was an offense as captured by the Cyber Security Act 2020 (Act 1038), the Crimi­nal Offences Act 1960 (Act 29) Sections 127A, 172, and 173, the Electronics Commu­nications Act 2008 (Act 775) Section 77, and the Electronics Transactions Act 2008 (Act 772) Section 128.

In addition, he said the Ministry of Transport’s Stan­dard Specification for Road and Bridge Works states, inter alia, that “the contractor shall take all reasonable precautions to protect existing services during construction and during their relocation and will be held responsible for any damage caused by him to existing works or services.

“He shall indemnify the em­ployer against any claims in this respect (including consequential damages). The contractor shall be responsible for the reinstate­ment of services so affected, at his expense and to the satisfac­tion of the engineer.”

Aside from legal actions, Dr Ashigbey mentioned that the chamber was embarking on a public awareness campaign to help subscribers understand the link between contractor actions and service quality issues.

The chamber’s campaign, he said included slogans such as “save our fibre” and “fibre cuts = bad internet,” which aims to educate the public on the direct correlation between fibre cuts and poor internet service.

Dr Ashigbey said it was im­portant for everyone to support the awareness creation efforts because persistent fibre cuts not only affect private telecom companies but also govern­ment-owned infrastructure.

In one instance, he said, the Eastern Corridor fibre network was so severely damaged that only two out of 48 fibre cores were functioning, requiring significant government expendi­ture to repair.

 BY JONATHAN DONKOR

Exit mobile version