IOSR Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering (IOSR-JECE) e-ISSN: 2278-2834,p- ISSN: 2278-8735.Volume 12, Issue 1, Ver. I (Jan.-Feb. 2017), PP 46-64 www.iosrjournals.org DOI: 10.9790/2834-1201014664 www.iosrjournals.org 46 | Page Causes of Fiber Cut and the Recommendation to Solve the Problem Teddy Hayford-Acquah 1 , Ben Asante 2 1 (The Department of Engineering and Management/ The Graduate School/Ghana Technology University College, Ghana 2 (The Department of Electrical and Telecommunication Engineering, The College of Engineering/ Ghana Technology University College, Ghana) Abstract: Optical fiber technology has transformed the telecom landscape in Ghana in recent years owing to its overwhelming advantages over the traditional transmission medium. Though the technology is highly immune to electromagnetic wave, it also offers a higher capacity of bandwidth for data and voice activities. The fiber infrastructure in Ghana has experienced a lot of fiber cuts incidences. And this has affected network quality delivery, increased operational expenditure and decline revenue margins of the telcos. This research was carried out in two phases using MTN Ghana (Western and Central Region) as a case study, to establish the root causes and remedial actions to curb it. First, Pareto and Ishakawa analytical tools were applied to the primary source data for the analysis. Secondly, a purposive survey was administered to acquire additional information. It was established that activities of government sponsored projects and private developers were largely responsible for the menace due to; negligence, ignorance, lack of coordination etc. On the bases, it’s recommended that telcos and stakeholders embark on educational campaign to sensitize the public on optical fiber cables whiles the government of Ghana put in measures to build mandatory right-of-way with support from the private sector. Keywords: Fiber Optic, Ishakawa, Pareto, Private Sector, Right-of-way I. Introduction Good customer experience, high bandwidth capacity, high network reliability and resiliency, and high quality of service delivery are some of the demands on telecommunications network operators in Ghana to drive various voice and data service on the respective mobile cellular network technologies such as Second Generation (2G)/Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), Third Generation (3G)/Universal Mobile Telecommunication Service (UMTS) and Fourth Generation (4G)/Long Term Evolution (LTE). Fiber optics network technology is generally accepted in the telecom industry as the most fastest and widely used medium of backhaul transmission that offers the required capacity and capability to meet the required telecom needs of customers in the industry today (Dhliwayo, 2012). The technology provides an enhanced features and advantages that is superior over copper-based and wireless backhaul transmission solutions. In view of this, most network operators in the industry in Ghana have deployed hundreds of kilometers of optical fiber network infrastructures across the length and breadth of the county in their bid to deliver a high standard network quality that satisfies and delight the needs of their customers. However, besides the superior and attractive features of the optical fiber technology upon which the telecom operators have leverage on to extend network coverage to many part of the country, its deployment and effective maintenance to ensure that the full benefits of the technology is maximized has been characterized with persistent fiber cut by various activities, posing many challenges to the players of the industry in meeting the network quality expectation of both regulators and the customers (Banigbe, 2014). This paper therefore seeks to investigate the root causes of persistent fiber cuts in the telecom industry in Ghana (Case study in MTN Ghana, Western and Central Region), with a stronger conviction that the outcome of the investigation when implemented will improve on general network quality of service delivery of the various network operators in Ghana which are attributed to frequent fiber cuts, reduce their cost of operations and also improve on customer satisfaction. Problem Statement Over the past decade it has become apparent that fiber optics technology is steadily replacing the conventional microwave transmission system in the telecom landscape due to its superior and attractive features over the conventional transmission medium (Held, 1999). In Ghana, almost all the telecom network operators have opted for the fiber optics technology as their primary transmission medium on their backhaul network design infrastructure.