Telecom company Globacom has begun a major upgrade of its network across Nigeria following repeated cases of fibre cable vandalism caused by road construction.
The company, in a statement on Tuesday, said it had started relocating fibre infrastructure and installing new base stations in several parts of the country to improve network quality.
“We decided, at a huge cost, to relocate the fibres, many of which had been vandalised in several places by uncoordinated road construction activities, in order to bring best-in-class services to customers,” the statement read.
Glo said the affected areas include key road routes like Auchi-Okene, Benin-Ekpoma, Lafia-Akwanga, Minna-Abuja, and Funtua-Gusau.
The telecom firm said it is also expanding into places that had no previous network coverage, while boosting signals in areas with rising populations.
“A core component of this upgrade involves the strategic deployment of new base stations, not only to extend coverage to previously underserved locations but also to densify existing areas with growing populations,” the company said.
The company noted that it had already deployed thousands of 4G LTE sites this year and was working on hundreds more to improve capacity and speed.
According to Glo, “There has been a massive upgrade of backhaul capacity, encompassing both microwave and fibre infrastructure, alongside a seamless, well-planned improvement in the core network.”
It also announced plans to build over a thousand new network sites next year, with a major focus on increasing LTE coverage to deliver more reliable data access.
To support better network reliability, Glo said it is extending fibre lines to many hub sites and investing in hybrid power systems that reduce reliance on fuel generators.
“This involves an increasing expansion of hybrid power solutions, shifting reliance more towards battery power than generators across its sites nationwide, a significant investment in itself,” the statement added.
While pushing forward with these improvements, the company raised concerns about vandalism of its network equipment.
It said, “Telecoms architecture has been marked as critical national infrastructure, yet we continue to experience sabotage. There’s a need for stronger efforts to stop this.”
Glo said the ongoing project reflects its goal to provide customers with faster internet speeds, stronger signal quality, and wider national coverage.
