Three simultaneous fibre cuts leave Northern Ghana without mobile service; Minister pledges swift restoration

Ghana's telecommunications infrastructure suffered a major blow on Wednesday when three separate fibre optic cables were cut almost simultaneously across the Northern Regions and Oti, leaving hundreds of thousands without mobile connectivity. Communications Minister Samuel Nartey George confirmed the incidents affected critical routes serving the five Northern Regions, triggering one of the most significant regional outages the country has experienced in recent times.

The damage occurred across three separate infrastructure routes within hours of each other. The first cut struck the Kintampo-Buipe corridor at 0419 GMT, affecting MTN Ghana's fibre network. Two further incidents followed shortly after: the Wakawaka-Bamboi route, which carries Telecel Ghana's connectivity, was damaged at 1136 GMT, whilst the Hohoe-Jasikan route operated by the National Information Technology Agency (NITA) went down at 1125 GMT. The near-simultaneous nature of the cuts raised immediate concern among communications officials.

Scale of disruption across the North

The outages created widespread service degradation across Ghana's most populous region. Technical data showed 694 combined 2G and 3G mobile sites went offline or experienced severe service loss, whilst a further 521 fourth-generation (4G) sites faced outages or major degradation. For residents and businesses across the affected territories, the cuts meant no access to voice calls, text messaging or mobile data services—essentially cutting off the Northern Regions from digital connectivity.

The impact extended beyond mobile phone services. Many businesses, banks, hospitals and government offices across the North rely on these fibre routes for their operations. The outages would have disrupted online transactions, telemedicine services, and government communications across the region.

Why it matters for Ghana

Fibre cuts represent a persistent vulnerability in Ghana's telecommunications infrastructure, and the frequency of such incidents has become a growing concern for service providers and regulators. The Northern Regions account for a significant portion of Ghana's population and are increasingly important for economic development and digital inclusion initiatives. Repeated outages undermine business confidence, affect education delivery (particularly for distance learning programmes), and frustrate efforts to extend quality telecommunications access to underserved areas.

The coordinated timing of the three cuts raises questions about their causes—whether accidental (construction damage, vehicle strikes, weather events) or deliberate. Minister George did not specify the suspected cause, but recovery teams were deployed immediately to investigate. The National Communications Authority (NCA) supervised technical crews from all three affected operators as they worked to locate and repair the damaged cables.

Ghana's telecommunications sector has previously warned about inadequate protection of fibre infrastructure in rural and regional areas, where cables often run along roads vulnerable to accidental damage. Better coordination between road contractors, telecommunications firms and regulators has been recommended to reduce future incidents.

Recovery and next steps

Minister George expressed confidence that restoration would begin within hours, though the simultaneous nature of three separate repairs complicated the recovery process. He apologised to affected customers and residents, acknowledging the significant inconvenience caused by the disruptions. The NCA's involvement in coordinating the restoration signalled the seriousness with which regulators treated the incident.

The outages highlighted ongoing challenges Ghana faces in maintaining reliable telecommunications infrastructure across all regions. Whilst major urban centres benefit from redundant fibre routes and alternative connectivity options, peripheral regions often depend on single pathways, leaving them vulnerable to complete service loss when cuts occur.