Mobile network operator 9mobile has attributed the recent service outage experienced by its customers across the country to a fire incident at its main data center in Lagos.
The telecom company in a statement issued on Wednesday also apologized to its roughly three million customers.
It noted that the fire outbreak occurred on Tuesday night.
However, 9mobile’s customers have been experiencing epileptic voice and data services on the network long before that.
Acknowledging this, the telco said it had also experienced multiple fibre cuts which had led to outages before the latest development.
What the company is saying
While noting that it was working to restore its services across the country, the telecom company in the statement said:
“9mobile sincerely apologizes for the recent service outages experienced by our valued customers which have affected our ability to provide voice, data, and internet services. We understand the frustration these disruptions have caused and deeply regret the inconvenience.
“Our technical team has identified the root causes of the outages including a fire incident at our Main Data Centre in Lagos last night which severely impacted services, especially in the Lagos and South-West. We are grateful for the swift intervention of the Lagos State Fire Service, which helped prevent further damage.
“Prior to the fire incident, our network experienced major fibre interruptions leading to varying degrees of outages. We had a fibre cut on the backbone links in Lagos which led to a total data outage across the country.”
- It added that this was followed closely by two vandalism incidents in Lagos and Abuja, leading to a total service outage in the South-West and a data service outage in the North.
- The company said its services have now been fully restored in some parts of the country, which include the North and South-South States while restoration work is ongoing in others.
- 9mobile said it hoped to fully restore services as soon as possible
“At 9mobile, customer satisfaction is our top priority. We value the trust you place in us and appreciate your patience and understanding during this challenging time.” It added.
What you should know
Back in July this year, customers of 9mobile had also experienced service outages on the network for more than six days.
- At the time, the company also blamed the disruption on multiple fibre cuts and damages to its infrastructure in some parts of the country.
- While fibre cuts and vandalism of infrastructure affect all telecom operators in the country, the persistent service outages on the 9mobile network has seen many of its customers ported to other networks.
- As of October, 9mobile active subscriptions had declined to 3.3 million according to data published by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) from over 20 million it had some years ago.
The hope of a turnaround for the company based on its recent acquisition by new investors, LH Telecommunication Limited is gradually fading as there has not been any improvement since the new owners took over with a new management team about five months ago.
