NCC reports restoration of services impacted by undersea cable breaks

Business a.m

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has announced that the recent undersea cable cuts, which had impacted voice and data services, have now been largely resolved. Utilisation levels have reportedly reached around 90 per cent of their peak capacity, providing much-needed relief to affected subscribers. 

On March 14, 2024, a widespread disruption of connectivity was experienced across the country, as cuts to undersea fibre optics along the coasts of Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal caused a ripple effect of downtime for voice and data services. 

The NCC, in  a statement made available to Business a.m, explained that the outage was widespread, causing significant inconvenience and frustration for individuals and businesses alike. As the impact of the outage became clear, the NCC stated that it took swift action to assess the situation and coordinate with the telecoms industry and other stakeholders to restore services as quickly as possible.

The statement, signed by Reuben Muoka,director of public affairs, NCC, read: “All operators who were impacted by the cuts have taken recovery capacity from submarine cables which were not impacted by the cuts, and have thus recovered approximately 90% of their peak utilisation capacities.

“Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) have assured the Commission that data and voice services would operate optimally pending full repairs of the undersea cables as they have managed to activate alternative connectivities to bring back the situation to normalcy.

“We extend our appreciation to telecom consumers for their patience and understanding during the downtime caused by the undersea fibre cuts.”

Prior to the development, reports of multiple breaks in undersea fibre optic cables in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire,had resulted in far-reaching repercussions for internet connectivity in Africa. The damage caused by the MainOne, West Africa Cable System (WACS), Africa Coast to Europe (ACE), MainOne, and SAT3 cable breaks led to numerous outages and disruptions for internet service providers and cloud service providers in Nigeria, as well as across the continent. 

The financial services sector was one of the hardest hit by the outages, with major banks in Nigeria unable to process transactions and provide services to their customers. This caused widespread complaints and frustration, as people were unable to access their bank accounts, pay bills, or carry out other basic financial tasks. Many banks were completely paralysed by the outages, while others experienced long delays and interruptions in service.