There’s good news for Nigerians who faced internet disruptions earlier this week! Data and voice services are back up and running at nearly full speed after a major undersea cable cut off the coast of West Africa.
On Thursday, March 14th, a problem with undersea cables caused internet and phone issues for many people in Nigeria, Ghana, and other countries. These cables are like underwater highways that carry information across the ocean. The Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) explained that the damage was likely caused by fishing gear or anchors hitting the cables, or even natural events like earthquakes.
The good news is that things are almost back to normal. Mobile network operators were able to switch to different, undamaged cables, restoring about 90% of internet and phone service capacity. While repairs on the original cables may take up to two weeks, these alternative connections should keep things running smoothly in the meantime.
The NCC thanked everyone for their patience during the outage and assured Nigerians that they’re working to get everything back to 100%.