A widespread internet disruption rippled across the African continent on Thursday, crippling online services and connectivity for millions of people in over a dozen countries. The apocalypse-like disruption affected several sectors that depend on the internet to function, especially banking services and data transfer.
The cause? According to publications by many corporate organizations whose services went to the dogs, the service disruption was caused by multiple failures in vital undersea telecommunication cables that serve as digital arteries connecting Africa to the global internet.
From West to South Africa, internet watchdogs and network operators reported severe outages in nations including Ivory Coast, Liberia, Benin, Ghana, Burkina Faso, South Africa, Namibia, and Lesotho. Internet measurement firm Netblocks described the event as “one of the most severe” internet disruptions witnessed in recent years across Africa.
The outages appeared to stem from cable breaks near the Ivory Coast involving key subsea cables like the West Africa Cable System (WACS), Africa Coast to Europe (ACE), SAT-3, and MainOne systems. While the specific causes remain unclear, experts suggest accidental cuts from debris or seabed mudslides could be to blame for snapping these critical cables.
The fallout was immediate and widespread. Mobile operators like MTN Nigeria, South Africa’s Vodacom, and other operators reported intermittent internet connectivity issues, with efforts underway to reroute traffic through alternative network paths. Banking services across countries like Nigeria ground to a halt, and some experienced interruptions while processing transactions. Businesses that rely on the internet to deliver services were heavily disrupted.
Isik Mater, research director at internet observatory Netblocks, noted a pattern pointing to likely failures at or near subsea cable landing sites, causing severe disruptions to international data flows. “The initial disruption may be a physical cut, but subsequent issues could be of a technical nature,” Mater explained.
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What are the possible causes of undersea cables damage?
Undersea cables can be damaged by a number of reasons ranging from human activities to natural causes.
Human Activity that can cause damages to undersea cables include:
- Ship Anchors: Accidental dragging of anchors during anchoring maneuvers.
- Fishing Gear: Trawling nets or fishing equipment getting entangled with cables can cause abrasions or cuts.
- Undersea Construction: Activities like laying new pipelines or drilling operations can accidentally damage existing cables if not properly planned and executed.
Natural Causes that can cause damages to undersea cables include:
- Earthquakes and Volcanic Eruptions: Undersea earthquakes or volcanic activity can cause significant disruptions to cables due to shifting seabed or volcanic debris.
- Undersea Landslides: Underwater landslides triggered by earthquakes or natural processes can bury or sever cables.
- Shark Bites: While this is less common, there have been documented cases of sharks mistaking undersea cables for prey, and then biting them.
Other factors that could lead to undersea cables getting damaged are corrosion due to long-term exposure to salt water, as well as defects caused my manufacturing errors.
As network operators worked to restore services, the incident underscored Africa’s vulnerability to such cable failures – a harsh reminder of the continent’s dependence on a fragile undersea infrastructure for global connectivity. With mobile internet usage booming, reliable access remains paramount for economies and essential services.