Speaking during an interview on TVC, Toriola said the operating environment in Nigeria presents unique obstacles that significantly affect the delivery of reliable telecommunications services, despite efforts by operators to improve network performance.
He highlighted the alarming rate of fibre cable damage across the country, describing it as one of the biggest challenges confronting the industry.
“We have very frequent fiber cuts. We have more fiber cut in Nigeria in a day than Saudi Arabia has in a year in MTN. This is due to uncontrolled road construction and vandalism. We have an infrastructure problem.”
According to the MTN Nigeria boss, road construction projects carried out without adequate coordination with telecom operators, alongside acts of vandalism, frequently damage fibre-optic infrastructure, leading to service disruptions for millions of subscribers.
Toriola also identified Nigeria's unreliable electricity supply as another major operational burden on telecommunications companies, noting that operators are forced to independently power their network infrastructure.
“The problem of power supply: we have to provide generators in every base station.”
Industry stakeholders have long argued that the high cost of maintaining generators, purchasing diesel and repairing damaged infrastructure contributes significantly to the cost of providing telecommunications services in Nigeria.
The comments come amid sustained complaints from subscribers over poor network quality, dropped calls, slow internet speeds and service interruptions experienced across different parts of the country.
In recent months, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has repeatedly directed telecommunications operators to improve the quality of service delivered to consumers, urging providers to address recurring network issues and enhance customer experience.
Despite the regulator's interventions, operators continue to cite infrastructure vandalism, multiple taxation, rising operational costs, insecurity and inadequate public utilities as some of the key factors affecting service delivery.
Toriola's remarks underscore the broader challenges facing Nigeria's telecom industry, where operators continue to invest in expanding network coverage while contending with infrastructure damage, unstable power supply and a difficult operating environment.