In Abuja (Nigeria), a dozen nations across Africa encountered a substantial disruption in internet connectivity on Thursday as several submarine telecommunication cables experienced malfunctions, according to network operators and internet monitoring organizations.
The MTN Group, a prominent network service provider in Africa, attributed the ongoing disturbances to failures in numerous significant submarine cables. “Our operations are actively engaged in redirecting traffic through alternate network routes,” stated the South African corporation in a released statement.
Network interruptions resulting from cable damage have been observed in Africa in recent times. Nevertheless, today’s incident suggests a broader issue, described by Isik Mater, director of research at NetBlocks, an organization monitoring internet disruptions worldwide, as one of the most severe.
NetBlocks indicated significant disruptions to international data transmission and measurement, likely occurring at or near the landing points of submarine network cables. The exact cause of the failure remains unclear.
Concerns were raised regarding potential disruptions to essential services, particularly in severely affected countries like Ivory Coast. Africa leads global mobile device web traffic, with many businesses on the continent relying on the internet to provide services to their clientele.
The West Africa Cable System (WACS), Africa Coast to Europe (ACE), SAT-3, and MainOne were identified among the cable systems impacted by Thursday’s outage.
Cloudflare, an internet analysis firm, noted a discernible pattern in the timing of disruptions, significantly affecting at least ten West African countries, including Ivory Coast, Liberia, Benin, Ghana, and Burkina Faso.
Vodacom, a mobile operator in South Africa, also reported intermittent connectivity issues due to multiple undersea cable failures. Namibia and Lesotho were similarly impacted.
The repercussions of such cable failures intensify as networks endeavor to circumvent the damage, potentially diminishing the available capacity for other nations, as stated by Mater from NetBlocks.
While the initial disruption may stem from a physical cut, subsequent issues could be of a technical nature, Mater added.