Fixing di submarine cable wey cause internet outage fit take up to two weeks - MainOne

MainOne wey be di operators of di Submarine cable system wey cut on Thursday don announce say e go take one to two weeks to fix am.

Dem tok dis one for inside statement wey dem bin use explain di situation on ground as tins be now.

For di statement, dem explain how di fixing go take happun say, "First na to get vessel wey go get all di necessary spare parts for di repair den carry am go wia di cut bin happun to fix am".

Di way dem dey plan to repair am na to "carry di affected section of di submarine cable from di seabed enta di ship do dat skilled technicians go fit attend to am".

"Di process fit take 1-2 weeks for repairs as dem fit use two to three weeks for di vessel to fit go carry di spare parts and travel from Europe go West Africa afta dem don arrange for di vessel dem go use."

MainOne also use di opportunity to clear di air onotp wetin cause di outage for sea.

Dem say, "most submarine cable faults na human activities like fishing and anchoring for shallow waters dey cause am. Oda causes na na earthquakes, landslides and den equipment failure.

"But because of how far from land di cable be from land, wey be like 3km for wia e cut, we no tink say na human activities go fit caise am.

"So our analysis for now dey show say e fit be some kain seismic event for di seabed wey cause di break, but we go know for sure wen more informate come wen dem comot di cable to fix am."

Network providers MTN for statement bin reveal say na four subsea cables wey bin dey cut - dem be WACS, ACE, SAT3 and MainOne.

For di statement, dem say, "MTN Group Bayobab dey work wit dia partners for di arrangement of repair work to di damaged digital communication cables along di West Coast of Africa.

"Bayobab dey also work wit partners to slow di impact of di damage by rerouting traffic and enabling more circuits."

Several damages to di submarine cables wey dey under di sea across East and West Africa bin make several African kontris experience major internet disruption on Thursday, 14 March.

South Africa, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Ghana and Burkina Faso dey among di kontris wey experience major internet disruption on Thursday.

Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), di agency wey dey regulate telecommunication industry confam di cut.

For one statement wey di agency issue, dem tok say di affected submarine cable come from Europe and pass through di East Coast of Africa. E get deep cut for di Red Sea and di cut affect oda submarine cables wey connect to am, like di West African Submarine Cable (WASC), African Coast to Europe (ACE) submarine cable, and MainOne submarine cable, wey get landing ducts for di shores of Nigeria.

“Cable companies – WACS and ACE for di West Coast route from Europe don experience faults, while SAT3 and MainOne get downtime.

“Similar undersea cables wey dey provide traffic from Europe go di East Coast of Africa, like Seacom, EIG, AAE1 also dey affected for so,e point around di Red Sea, wey result in degradation pf services across these routes.” NCC explain for statement.

NCC add say sake of dis cut, Nigeria, plus oda West Africa kontris internet access and speed dey experience disruptions for di networks of service providers for di affected kontris.

Dem however assure say operators of these cables don begin repair works already to restore services to di affected kontris.

Chairman of di Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) Gbenga Adebayo, also confam di cut on di submarine cable for di Red Sea

Oga Adebayo tok say dem dey torchlight di cause of di cut, and promise to make di investigation public.

MTN, wey be one of di main communications network for Nigeria release statement to apologise to dia customers for slow internet and data services.

Dem say na as a result of one damage to undersea cables across East and West Africa.

Also some Banks for Nigeria also tok sorry to dia customers for di slow network.

Meanwhile, Cloudflare Radar, wey dey provide information on internet connections say:

"There seem to be a pattern in di timing of di disruptions, impacting from di north to di south of Africa,"

Internet connectivity for Ivory Coast bin dey down to around just 4% on Thursday morning, according to Netblocks, wey dey track cybersecurity and internet connectivity.

Liberia at one point drop to 17% while Benin dey at 14% and Ghana 25%, Netblocks tok.

For South Africa, Vodacom say "customers dey currently experience connectivity issues due to multiple undersea cable failures".

One fault don also dey reported for di MainOne cable system wey dey serve Nigeria commercial hub, Lagos.

Liberian goment say internet disruption bin dey reported from Thursday morning.

Citizens bin dey unable to access di basic internet as well as social media across majority of di kontri. International bank transfers bin also dey affected according to reports while limited international voice calls dey happen.

"E be like 50% of my life done go today," Benjamin Garkpah tell BBC from di Liberian capital, Monrovia.

Fatumata Barry say her business pause because she bin no fit receive payments through mobile money.

Liberia Telecommunications Authority say na one incident involving di Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) submarine communications cable for Ivory Coast cause am.

For Ghana, di National Communications Authority (NCA) report say multiple undersea cable palava bin dey responsible for di outage.

Cloudflare post on social media say major internet disruptions dey happen for The Gambia, Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Benin and Niger.