The Nigerian Communications Commission has announced that voice, and data services affected by undersea cable cuts have been restored.
A statement on Monday issued by the Director of Public Affairs in NCC, Reuben Muoka, said services have now been restored to approximately 90 per cent of their peak utilisation capacities.
The statement read, “Following the disruption on March 14, 2024, which affected data and voice services due to cuts in undersea fibre optics along the coasts of Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal, we are pleased to announce that services have now been restored to approximately 90% of their peak utilisation capacities.
“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 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.”
Last Thursday, cuts to the undersea cable supplying broadband Internet connectivity to Nigeria and countries in the West African sub-region forced many banks and other financial institutions, as well as telecom companies and allied firms, to scale down their operations.
Cable companies—West African Cable System and African Coast to Europe in the West Coast route from Europe—have experienced faults, while SAT3 and MainOne have downtime.
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, on Sunday, announced plans to spearhead a global collaboration aimed at enhancing the protection of undersea cables.
The minister said it was imperative to review international laws and foster partnerships with regional and global bodies to accelerate efforts to safeguard this vital infrastructure.
The minister said submarine cable cut, while disruptive, are proving to be a catalyst for resilience and growth in our digital economy.
He commended the telcos, Globacom, West Indian Ocean Cable Company, MTN, and MainOne, who have demonstrated commendable selflessness by collaborating to mitigate the impact of these cable cut.
NCC, on Thursday, confirmed that several African internet service providers faced outages due to submarine cable cuts, with cable operators actively engaged in efforts to restore connectivity.
The service disruption caused by cuts to the undersea cable supplying broadband Internet connectivity to Nigeria and countries in the West African sub-region, on Friday, forced many banks and other financial institutions, as well as telecom companies and allied firms to scale down their operations.
