Internet Outage: Repairs Commenced on Damaged Subsea Cables, Confirms NCC

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has officially announced the commencement of repairs on damaged subsea cables, which have resulted in significant disruptions to telecommunications services across several nations, including Nigeria.

Reuben Muoka, Director of Public Affairs at the NCC, affirmed this development in a statement released on Thursday.

The disruptions, caused by multiple subsea cable cuts primarily in Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal, with subsequent repercussions in Portugal, have adversely affected various West African countries. Among those impacted are Ghana, Senegal, and Cote d’Ivoire.

“A combination of cable cuts has led to equipment faults on major undersea cables along the West African Coast, negatively impacting data and fixed telecom services in several countries of West Africa,” stated the NCC.

Key undersea cable systems, including the West African Cable System (WACS) and African Coast to Europe (ACE) on the West Coast route from Europe, have encountered faults, alongside downtime experienced by SAT3 and MainOne.

Similar undersea cables facilitating traffic from Europe to the East Coast of Africa, such as Seacom, Europe India Gateway (EIG), and Asia-Africa-Europe 1 (AAE1), have also been affected, with reports of cuts around the Red Sea leading to service degradation along these routes.

“In Nigeria and other West African countries, internet access and speed have experienced disruptions within the networks of service providers,” added the NCC.

Muoka assured that services are gradually being reinstated, with companies committing to working tirelessly to restore services to affected countries within the shortest possible timeframe.

Earlier on Thursday, MTN Group acknowledged the impact of the damaged submarine cable on its services, while Rasheed Bolarinwa, President of the Association of Corporate and Marketing Communications Professionals of Banks in Nigeria (ACAMB), noted that the situation had also impacted connectivity across numerous banks.