Internet Disruptions Hit East Africa; Regulators Warns of Days-Long Outages

Summary:

• Ugandan and Kenya’s telecom regulators warns of ongoing internet disruptions in East Africa due to fiber cable cuts in South Africa. Service providers urged to seek alternative routes. Slow speeds expected for days. Submarine cables affected, but domestic traffic rerouted. Safaricom activates redundancy measures.

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KAMPALA, (Examiner) – Uganda and Kenya’s telecommunications regulator has issued a warning regarding the ongoing internet disruptions across East Africa, indicating that the disruptions, originating from a cut in deep-sea fiber cables at Mtunzini, South Africa, are likely to persist for several days. The regulator, the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), has urged service providers to seek alternative routes to mitigate the impact.

The affected areas, including Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, and others, are currently experiencing sluggish internet speeds due to the fault in submarine cables, particularly those managed by Seacom and East Africa Submarine System (Eassy), both predominantly privately-controlled entities, as stated by the CA on Monday.

David Mugonyi, the CA director-general, mentioned in a statement that while the recovery process has commenced, users may continue to experience intermittent connectivity and reduced speeds until services are fully restored. The CA has instructed service providers to proactively secure alternative routes for their traffic and is closely monitoring the situation to ensure continued internet connectivity.

Fiber-optic technology, known for its superior high-speed connectivity, has played a crucial role in enabling reliable internet access in the region, supporting activities such as remote work and contributing to Kenya’s prominence in the digital economy.

Major service providers like Safaricom, Airtel, and Jamii Telecommunications have extensively deployed fiber-optic infrastructure across urban centers, facilitating the expansion of 4G and 5G mobile networks, thus enhancing internet speeds for services like video streaming.

Despite the disruptions, the East Africa Marine System (TEAMs) cable, primarily owned by the Kenyan government, remains unaffected and is now utilized for domestic traffic. Additionally, the communications agency highlights the availability of additional capacity via the redundant South Africa route, which has been activated to mitigate the impact on Seacom and Eassy submarine cables.

Safaricom, a leading operator, has assured its customers of activated redundancy measures to minimize service interruptions and is actively working to resolve network challenges.

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