Data, Voice services now restored — NCC, MainOne
…As repairs still ongoing
By Blessing Emmanuel, Abuja
Data and voice services have been restored according to a statement by the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) and MainOne.
Recall that a combination of cable cuts, resulting in equipment faults on the major undersea cables along the West African Coast, have negatively impacted data and fixed telecom services in several countries of West Africa, including Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Cote de Ivoire, among others.
The cuts occurred somewhere in Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal, with an attendant disruption in Portugal. This has occasioned several disruptions for businesses and individuals.
However, reacting to the persisting lag in telecommunications services, the NCC in a statement by its Director of Public Affairs stated that data and voice services of telecom operators have been restored up to 90 percent.
According to the statement, “All operators who were impacted by the cuts have taken recovery capacity from submarine cables which were not affected by the cuts, and have thus recovered approximately 90 percent of their peak utilisation capacities.
“This swift action has enabled the restoration of critical communication services that were disrupted by the undersea fibre cuts.
“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. This proactive approach has helped minimize the impact of the disruption on telecom consumers and businesses relying on these services.”
The NCC also expressed appreciation to telecom consumers for their patience and understanding during the downtime caused by the undersea fibre cuts.
The telecoms regulator also commended the efforts of the operators in swiftly restoring services and ensuring minimal disruption to communication networks.
“The restoration of services to 90 percent capacity is a testament to the resilience and efficiency of the telecommunications sector in addressing challenges and ensuring continuity of services. Operators continue to work towards fully restoring services to their peak capacity and ensuring that consumers continue to enjoy reliable and uninterrupted communication services,” the NCC stated.
Similarly, MainOne stated that it was able to work with regional partners last week and over the weekend to reroute traffic with restoration capacity.
“We worked with regional partners late last week and over the weekend to reroute traffic with restoration capacity and our observations are that we have stability on our network across the region this morning,” a statement by the digital infrastructure company read.
However, the organisation said there is a continued renovation and it is actively working with its maintenance partners, vessel owners and permitting authorities to expedite the restoration of the subsea cable.
It expressed optimism that the cable will be repaired as planned and services fully restored, so it can continue to operate with continued integrity of the submarine cable.
