By Olushola Okunlade
The Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) has blamed recent disruption in undersea data and telecom cable services along the West African Coast on cable and equipment cuts
The NCC in a statement said the equipment faults have negatively impacted data and fixed telecom services in several countries of West Africa, including Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, and Cote D’Ivoire, among others.
A statement signed by Reuben Muoka, NCC Director, Public Affairs stated that the cuts occurred somewhere in Cote D’Ivoire and Senegal, with an attendant disruption in Portugal.
The statement confirmed that Cable companies – West African Cable System (WACS) and African Coast to Europe (ACE) in the West Coast route from Europe have experienced faults while SAT3 and MainOne have downtime.
It noted that similar undersea cables providing traffic from Europe to the East Coast of Africa, like Seacom, Europe India Gateway (EIG), and Asia-Africa-Europe 1 (AAE1), are said to have been cut at some point around the Red Sea, resulting in degradation of services across on these routes.
In Nigeria and other West African countries, according to the statement, Internet access and speed have experienced disruptions in the networks of service providers in the affected countries.
The Commission however assured that operators of these cables have commenced repairs already, and services are gradually being restored.
“They have promised to work round 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 corporate and individual consumers on these services” NCC said.
