A double fibre cut along the Accra-Winneba and Winneba-Cape Coast routes has disrupted Telecel service for 72,754 subscribers in the Central Region of Ghana. The outage was confirmed by Communications, Digital Technology and Innovation Minister Samuel Nartey George in a Facebook post. The affected areas include Winneba, Agona Swedru, Nyakrom, and Kwanyako, among other towns. The disruption has left residents in these areas unable to make calls, send messages, or access mobile data on the Telecel network.
The fibre lines were severed by excavation work carried out by a road contractor along the affected stretch. Minister George said Telecel engineers were already on site working to restore connections, while a separate team had been dispatched to engage the contractor and halt further digging to prevent additional damage to the buried infrastructure. The Minister apologized for the inconvenience caused to customers and expressed confidence that engineers would restore service as quickly as possible.
The National Communications Authority (NCA), the state regulator responsible for overseeing telecom operators in Ghana, will continue monitoring the restoration efforts. This is not the first network disruption to draw public attention in recent weeks. A seven-hour MTN blackout along the Salaga-Tamale road prompted Bunkpurugu MP Dr Abednego Bandim to call for stronger NCA oversight of telecom operators just days before this latest incident.
The Central Region outage has significant implications for residents in affected towns, who rely on mobile money transactions and internet-dependent services. Fibre-optic cables, which carry much of the voice and data traffic between mobile towers, are often buried along road corridors and are vulnerable to accidental damage during construction or excavation work. The disruption has highlighted the need for greater care and coordination during excavation work near buried infrastructure.
According to Minister George, about 181 Radio Access Network (RAN) sites were affected by the disruption. The affected zones stretch across the Winneba and Agona Swedru sectors, taking in Winneba Campus, Agona Swedru, Nyakrom, and Kwanyako, among other towns. Coastal and transit communities, including Apam, Mumford, Senya Beraku, Mankessim, Assin Fosu, and Assin Manso, also lost service.
The disruption extended toward the Kasoa–Weija border, with towns such as Awutu Bereku, Bawjiase, Potsin, Tuba, and New Weija also reporting network problems. Telecel engineers are working to restore service, but no specific timeline for full restoration has been given. It remains unclear whether the road contractor responsible for the excavation work has been identified publicly or whether any compensation or penalty is being considered.
The incident has raised questions about the resilience of Ghana's telecom networks to physical damage and how quickly operators can respond when service goes down. The NCA's role going forward has been described only as continued monitoring, with no further details provided on new measures to prevent similar incidents. The incident is a reminder of the importance of protecting buried infrastructure and coordinating excavation work to prevent disruptions to essential services.
Key points
- 72,754 Telecel subscribers were affected by the disruption.
- The fibre lines were severed by excavation work carried out by a road contractor.
- The National Communications Authority will continue monitoring the restoration efforts.
