The West African Cable System (WACS), an undersea cable essential for internet connectivity, has been repaired one month after it suffered damage off the coast of the Congo.
Byron Kennedy, a spokesperson for Vodacom, confirmed that the WACS cable restoration was completed on Tuesday.
Openserve anticipated the repair to be fully concluded by 6 September; however, the South Atlantic 3 (SAT-3) cable, which also encountered damage on the same day, is still awaiting repairs.
Also read: If you’ve recently been experiencing slower internet service, here’s why
These undersea fibre-optic cables, stretching across vast distances beneath the ocean, are essential for the functioning of the internet, facilitating rapid data transfer over long distances.
Major telecommunications companies, including MTN, Vodacom, Openserve and Cloudflare, informed News24 of some disruptions to their operations due to the cable damage. Nevertheless, they were able to minimise the impact by rerouting data traffic onto other undersea cables.
Althon Beukes, the CEO of Openserve, assured customers that their connectivity would return to normal once the WACS cable repair was finished.
He commented, ‘The team has made remarkable progress, and although the impact on Openserve was limited due to our investment in other international cable capacity, the restoration will reinstate our customers’ latency and redundancy on the WACS cable.’
When the cables initially broke, the sole vessel authorised to carry out repairs in that region was already engaged in repairing cables on the opposite side of the continent.
Jess Auerbach, an associate professor at the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business currently authoring a book on fibre-optic cables, explained, ‘At the moment, I think it is fair to say that Africa is radically underserved.’
Unleash your inner explorer with these incredible car deals, all priced under 100k. Find car listings here.
Africa has seen an increase in the number of undersea cables in recent years, which has raised concerns about the likelihood of more cable disruptions in the future. Google’s Equiano cable landed in Melkbosstrand in August of the previous year, and Meta’s 2Africa cable has also been recently deployed.
Auerbach suggested that the allocation of resources for subsea cable maintenance and repairs in Sub-Saharan Africa may require reconsideration to address this growing demand.
She commended the crew of the Léon Thévenin, the vessel responsible for the cable repair, for their exceptional skills and efficiency in handling the challenging conditions required for such rapid repairs.
‘To repair the cables so quickly, the crew would have had to work exceptionally skillfully in difficult conditions,’ Auerbach noted.
Cape {town} Etc discount: Appreciate the beauty of Cape Town with a 60-minute cruise for R155 (valued at R310). Get it here.
Also read:
Seniors suffer as technical woes disrupt Sassa grant disbursements
Picture: Sigmund / Unsplash