The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has confirmed that several African Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have experienced service outages due to cuts in submarine cables, assuring that efforts were ongoing to restore connectivity.
Naija News reports that the affected cables include the West African Cable System (WACS), African Coast to Europe (ACE), SAT3, and MainOne, which suffered downtime following incidents in Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal, with subsequent disruptions extending to Portugal.
In a statement released on Thursday by the Director of Public Affairs at the NCC, Reuben Muoka, the regulator highlighted that similar challenges have impacted other undersea cables such as Seacom, Europe India Gateway, and Asia-Africa-Europe 1. These cables experienced cuts around the Red Sea area, leading to significant service degradation across these routes.
The disruption has led to widespread frustration among subscribers, who took to social media to voice their difficulties in making phone calls and accessing online services.
In response to the crisis, the NCC reassured the public that cable operators are actively engaged in repair efforts and that services are gradually being restored.
“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,” the NCC statement read.
The commission emphasized the importance of keeping corporations and consumers informed about the situation.
MTN Nigeria, one of the country’s leading telecommunications providers, acknowledged the outage and appealed for patience among its subscribers. The company assured efforts are underway to resolve the issue and restore services as quickly as possible.
The connectivity crisis echoes a similar incident a few weeks prior, where major operators, including MTN, Airtel, and 9mobile, faced a widespread network connection crisis. Gbenga Adebayo, Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), attributed the connectivity issue to significant fibre cuts by road contractors working for the Federal Government.
