On Thursday, submarine cable providers were hit by major cuts in undersea cables, disrupting internet traffic across large parts of the continent.
This disrupted the services of banks and telecommunication companies Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, and Senegal.
Details
MainOnea West African digital infrastructure service provider said preliminary findings and further research showed “the fault was caused by an external incident that resulted in a cut in its undersea cable system, offshore Ivory Coast in the Atlantic Ocean, along the coast of West Africa“.
The company said repairs to its undersea cables may be needed one to two weeks.
Repair status
Regarding cable repairs, MainOne said:We have a maintenance agreement with the Atlantic Cable Maintenance and Repair Agreement (ACMA) to provide repair services for the submarine cable.”
“First identify and assign a vessel, the vessel must retrieve the necessary spare parts required for the repair, and then sail to the location of the fault to carry out the repair work.
“Then, to complete the repair, the affected section of the submarine cable will need to be pulled from the seabed to the ship where it will be connected by specialist technicians.”
According to MainOne, after the repair, the joints will be inspected and tested for any defects, and then the submarine cable will be lowered back to the seabed and placed in good position.
“This process can take 1-2 weeks for repairs, and around 2-3 weeks transit time can be required to receive the parts and travel from Europe to West Africa once the vessel is mobilized.”
MTN works with Bayobab for repairs
In a statement on Friday, MTN Group said Bayobaba digital connectivity solutions company,
is working with its partners to synchronize repair work on the damaged submarine digital communication cables along West Africa.
“As confirmed by their consortium partners, on March 14, 2024, four submarine cables were cut. They are WACS, ACE, SAT3 and MainOne,” MTN said.
It is also working with partners to mitigate the impact of the damage by rerouting traffic and activating more circuits, according to the statement.
“ACE and WACS jointly initiated the repair process, mobilizing a cable car for a collaborative repair effort. While search and repair efforts are ongoing, Bayobab’s strategy is focused on successfully rerouting traffic, leveraging our extensive network and working with industry partners,” the telco said.
“Our network resiliency enables rapid activation of new cables, facilitating faster rerouting and enhancing network resiliency. By enabling new cables, we rapidly increase connectivity and establish alternative routes.
“Furthermore, we are working with cable consortia and partners to improve connectivity along the west and east coasts, with further interconnections between WACS and Equiano and the introduction of end-to-end connectivity between WACS on the west coast and EASSy on the east coast”.
MTN said it has already made progress in restoring service in some affected areas, assuring that it remains committed to achieving full recovery as soon as possible.
Zoom out
This is not the first time that there has been a major disruption in internet provision in West Africa.
In 2023, the West African Cable System (WACS) it was damaged somewhere off the coast between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Cameroon. The damage to WACS occurred on August 6.
The damaged cable was reportedly caused by undersea rockslides in the Congo Gorge and disrupted internet services in some West African countries.
The bigger picture
With the threat of internet cables, especially due to the increasing conflicts specific locations including Yemendiscussions may be needed regarding the wider use of Low Earth Orbit Internet companies such as Starlink.
However, the technology is still early and may not be able to handle the volume of users compared to undersea internet cables.
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