Multiple undersea telecommunication cables reported breakdowns on Thursday, causing a significant internet outage that affected twelve nations in Africa, according to network providers and online watch groups.
One of the biggest network providers in Africa, MTN Group, said that numerous significant underwater cable failures were the cause of the continued outages. The South African business released a statement saying, “Our operations are actively working to reroute traffic through alternative network paths.”
Across recent years, cable breakage has caused network outages across Africa. Isik Mater, director of research at NetBlocks, an organization that tracks internet disruptions globally, stated that “today’s disruption points to something larger (and) this is amongst the most severe.”
Data transmission and measurement, according to NetBlocks, indicate a significant disruption to international transits, “probably at or near the subsea network cable landing points.”
It was not immediately apparent why the failure occurred.
In the worst-hit nations, like the Ivory Coast, where the disruption was severe, there were worries that vital services might not be provided. Africa is the continent with the highest volume of mobile device online traffic worldwide, as many businesses there rely on the internet to provide their clients with services.
Observers reported that the system cables impacted by Thursday’s outage included SAT-3, MainOne, the Africa Coast to Europe (ACE), and the West Africa Cable System (WACS).
