BY LEVI JOHNSON
No fewer than 282 base stations of communication service providers in the northeast have been bombed by the Boko Haram insurgents, Airtel has said.
It also said the insurgents bombed 282 telecom base stations in the northeast recently.
This is as the Federal Government had stopped fuel tankers from delivering fuel to areas close to the borders.
Airtel explained that voice call and data networks in the villages and towns around the country’s borders have been down due to lack of diesel to the base stations there.
The Vice President Network Operation of Airtel Nigeria, Adedoyin Adeola while speaking in Lagos Thursday on why there are still dropped calls said 20 per cent of the company’s Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs)around the border areas was currently down.
He explained that there is a piece of equipment that facilitates wireless communication between user equipment and a network.
Adedoyin said this was affecting voice calls and data network, and by extension negatively impacting on the country’s economy.
”All the BSTs have dried up because they could not get fuel to keep them functional.
”We appeal to the Federal Government to list telecom infrastructure as one of the Critical National Infrastructure to reduce incidences of damage to telecom infrastructure,” he said.
