Police in Nungua in Accra have arrested two persons believed to be employees of the Ghana Water Company for allegedly causing damage to some telecommunication infrastructure belonging to AirtelTigo.

They were said to have caused the damage while excavating a portion of the road to remove old water pipes.

According to Citi News sources, the two were picked up after they destroyed fibre infrastructure along the Nungua-Tema road, which is part of the ongoing 16-kilometre La-Beach Road project.

The activities of the suspects are said to have disrupted service to about 75 telecommunication sites of AirtelTigo.

The suspects who were picked up on Sunday while engaging in the destructive exercise have currently been granted bail and are assisting with investigations.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber for Telecommunication Dr. Kenneth Ashigbey spoke to Citi News on the arrest.

“AirtelTigo noticed at its network operating system around 9pm that there was damage to fibre that resulted in the loss of connectivity. So they did some exploration and realised that late that evening, there were people who were excavating the roads, removing some Ghana Water pipes. Fortunately for us and unfortunately for them, they continued this exercise till the morning. So a report was made to the police, and they were arrested.”

“Not only had they damaged AirtelTigo’s fibre, but even the new drain on the road has also been damaged. These people have been arrested, and the equipment involved confiscated by the police. The police are investigating the case. We’ve been informed that these people have been granted bail while investigations continue. We hope the police would know the impact of this activity on the state. What the damaged caused disrupted service to about 75 of AirtelTigo’s sites which then resulted in the loss of data and voice,” he added.

Road projects, galamsey and construction works are main causes of fibre cuts


Fibre cuts have been the main headache of telecommunications companies in Ghana.

Telecommunication giant MTN said it has recorded 125 fibre cut incidents within the last eight months, with 50% of them occurring as a result of road construction activities, illegal mining and private property development.

“There are a number of activities that we encounter in our quality of service delivery to our customers and one of such activity we have identified is the fibre cuts which are often caused by private property developers, galamsey activities and some road construction activities.”

“This year alone we have recorded one hundred and twenty-five incidents of fibre cuts with the majority of them occurring as a result of road construction activities, galamsey or private developers engaged in development activities,” MTN’s Regional Technical Manager for Western and Central Regions, Teddy Hayford Acquah told Citi News.

Source: citifmonline