Undersea cable providers were hit by drastic cuts in undersea cables on Thursday, disrupting internet traffic in major parts of the continent.
This disrupts services of banks and telecom companies Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, and Senegal.
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Main oneA West African digital infrastructure services provider said preliminary findings and further investigation revealed that “The failure occurred due to an external event that severed its submarine cable system in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa.“.
The company says repairing its undersea cables may require one to two weeks.
Maintenance status
As for cable repairs, MainOne said: “We have a maintenance agreement with Atlantic Cable Maintenance and Repair Agreement (ACMA) to provide repair services for submarine cables“.
“First a ship is identified and assigned, which must retrieve the spare parts needed for the repair, and then sail to the location of the failure to carry out the repair work.
“Next, in order to complete the repair work, the affected subsea cable sections must be pulled from the seabed to the ship and spliced by skilled technicians.”
According to MainOne, after repairs, the joints will be inspected and tested for any defects, and the submarine cable will then be returned to the seabed and placed in a suitable location.
“This process may take 1-2 weeks for repairs, and once the ship is mobilized, it may take approximately 2-3 weeks for transit to receive spare parts and travel from Europe to West Africa.”
MTN partners with Bayobab for repairs
MTN Group said in a statement on Friday Bayo Babua digital connectivity solutions company,
is working with its partners to simultaneously repair damaged underwater digital communications cables in West Africa.
“On March 14, 2024, four submarine cables were severed, its consortium partners confirmed. They are WACS, ACE, SAT3 and MainOne”, said MTN.
The company is also working with partners to mitigate the impact of the damage by rerouting traffic and enabling additional routes, according to the statement.
“ACE and WACS jointly initiated the remediation process, mobilizing a cable vessel to conduct collaborative remediation efforts. While investigation and remediation efforts are ongoing, Bayobab’s strategic focus is on successfully rerouting traffic, leveraging our extensive network and engaging with industry Partner cooperation,” the telecommunications company said.
“Our network resiliency allows us to quickly activate new cables, facilitating faster rerouting and increasing network resiliency. By enabling new cables, we can quickly enhance interconnectivity and establish alternative routes.
“In addition, we are working with cable alliances and partners to strengthen interconnection between the West and East Coasts, further enhance interconnections between WACS and Equiano, and introduce end-to-end connectivity between WACS on the West Coast and EASSy on the East Coast .”
MTN said it has made progress in restoring services in some affected areas and assured that it remains committed to full restoration as soon as possible.
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This is not the first time West Africa has experienced severe disruptions in internet supply.
2023, West African Cable System (WACS) Damage occurred somewhere near the coast between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon. The WACS damage occurred on August 6th.
The damaged cables were reportedly caused by submarine rockslides in Congo Canyon and disrupted internet services in some West African countries.
The bigger picture
Due to threats to internet cables, particularly due to escalating conflicts in specific locations such as Yemen, the broader use of low-Earth orbit internet companies such as Starlink may need to be discussed.
However, the technology is still in its early stages and may not be able to handle the large number of users compared to undersea internet cables.
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