The Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) has confirmed that several African internet service providers faced outages due to submarine cable cuts, with cable operators actively engaged in efforts to restore connectivity.
The telecom regulator made this disclosure in a statement signed by the Director, Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka, on Thursday.
The NCC identified affected operators to include West African Cable System and African Coast to Europe, along with SAT3 and MainOne, which experienced downtime.
The regulator attributed the disruptions to incidents in Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal, resulting in subsequent disruptions in Portugal.
The commission noted similar challenges along other undersea cable routes, such as Seacom, Europe India Gateway, and Asia-Africa-Europe 1, which also experienced cuts.
The regulator stated, ” Similar undersea cables providing traffic from Europe to the East Coast of Africa, like Seacom, Europe India Gateway, and Asia-Africa-Europe 1, were said to have been cut at some point around the Red Sea, resulting in the degradation of services across these routes.”
Many subscribers on Thursday expressed frustrations on social media platforms, citing difficulties in making phone calls and accessing online services.
Despite the setbacks, the NCC assured the public that cable operators have initiated repair efforts, with services gradually being restored.
The commission stated, “Operators of these cables have commenced repairs already, and services are gradually being restored. They have promised to work around the clock to ensure that services are restored to the affected countries within the shortest possible time.
“It is important to bring this information to the knowledge of corporations and consumers on these services.”
Earlier, MTN Nigeria, the leading telecommunications provider in the country, acknowledged the situation and appealed to its subscribers.
The company also assured them that it is making efforts to resolve the issue and restore services as quickly as possible.
A few weeks ago, a similar issue occurred where major operators across the country, including MTN, Airtel, and 9mobile, grappled with a widespread network connection crisis.
The Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria, Gbenga Adebayo, told The PUNCH that the connectivity issue was due to significant fibre cuts made by road contractors employed by the Federal Government.
The ALTON chairman said, “There have been significant fibre cuts across the country, and this has impacted connectivity today, but efforts are being made by affected telecom operators to rectify this situation.”
