- Following internet outages in Nigeria and neighboring countries, efforts are ongoing to quickly restore service to affected customers.
- The disruption was caused by damage to international submarine cables vital to telecommunications and banking
- Reports have confirmed that damage centered around Abidjan, Ivory Coast, has affected connectivity across several countries in West Africa and South Africa.
Legit.ng journalist Segun Adeyemi has over nine years of experience covering political events, civil society, courts, metros and more.
MainOne, a company that provides digital infrastructure services in West Africa, estimates that repairs to the undersea cable could take up to two weeks.
On Thursday, March 14, these cables were cut, impacting internet connectivity in several parts of the continent.
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This turmoil affected the operations of banks and telecommunications companies in Nigeria.
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MainOne announced Friday that it could take another two to three weeks for the ship to collect replacement parts for the undersea cable and sail from Europe to West Africa.
They said an external incident caused the network failure. Initial investigations revealed a break in the undersea cable system off the coast of Ivory Coast in the Atlantic Ocean.
As quoted by TheCable, the company said:
“We have a maintenance contract with the Atlantic Cable Maintenance and Repair Agency (ACMA) to provide repair services for our submarine cables.
“First, we identify and allocate a vessel. The vessel must retrieve the spare parts needed for the repair and then navigate to the failure location to carry out the repair work.
“Next, to complete the repair, the affected section of the submarine cable must be pulled from the ocean floor onto the ship, where it will be connected by trained technicians.”
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Repairs to submarine cable could take two weeks – MainOne
MainOne said that once the repairs are completed, the joints will be carefully inspected and tested for problems.
The submarine cable is returned to the ocean floor and properly positioned.
The repair process is estimated to take one to two weeks, and once ready for deployment, the ship could head from Europe to West Africa to receive the necessary parts.
On Friday, the company provided another update, saying it is working with unaffected cable systems to ensure they have the capacity needed for recovery.
MainOne said its technical teams are working diligently to restore service, depending on available capacity and specific service configurations.
Internet failure: MTN, others provide updates
Meanwhile, MTN and other telcos have informed customers about recent network outages in various countries.
The problem stems from damage to submarine cables in Ivory Coast and affects several countries in West and Southern Africa.
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Nigeria and other African countries hit by internet outages due to damaged submarine cables
MTN reassured customers that it is addressing the issue with urgency and plans to rectify the situation quickly.
Source: Legit.ng
