February 5, 2024 (Port Sudan) – Since Friday night, internet and communication networks have been disrupted in most parts of Sudan. The cause of the outage remains unclear, with accusations flying between the Sudanese government and Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
RSF, which controls Sudan and the area where key infrastructure for the MTN-Sudan network operations is located, has reportedly been in action for months to protest the company’s inaction on communications issues affecting Darfur. It is said that the network was disrupted over a period of time.
However, RSF officials denied responsibility for the power outage and instead blamed the military. He linked the current closure to ongoing military operations. The official also accused the military of issuing direct orders to cut communications in parts of Darfur, Kordofan, Khartoum and Al-Jazeera states for months.
Sudani and MTN are both facing complete service disruptions, while Zain remains partially operational in some areas, and the reason for this discrepancy has not been explained. Zain was disrupted in Port Sudan on Sunday night, but was restored on Monday morning.
Monitoring group Digital Rights Lab – Sudan claims that sources have confirmed that RSF has taken over the data center of an internet service provider (ISP) in Khartoum.
Independent internet watchdogs such as NetBlocks and IODA have documented the disruption since Friday, February 2nd. Their report details significant issues affecting multiple providers, including MTN and Sudatel experiencing severe connectivity failures.
Internet monitoring company NetBlocks reported on Friday that multiple Internet providers in Sudan have experienced major outages since Friday.
“MTN Sudan is reporting a service disruption due to circumstances beyond its control,” NetBlock said in a brief statement on the X platform.
Meanwhile, the Internet Outage Detection and Analysis (IODA) project reported on Sunday that Internet connection signals in Sudan had been cut by 4:30pm local time on Friday, February 2. MTN and Sudatel connectivity will be severely disrupted.
The internet blackout added further hardship to a country already suffering from conflict. Several commentators emphasized that a lack of communication impedes the flow of information, impedes business activities, and disrupts essential services.
(ST)
