Slow internet speeds affected internet users in East Africa on Sunday due to a significant sub-sea fibre cut, resulting in an internet outage across the region.
Numerous internet service providers (ISPs) in East Africa and South Africa experienced disruptions as a result of the undersea cable being severed.
Efforts are being made by network providers to rectify the situation and restore a reliable internet connection.
Safaricom, a major telecoms company in the region, is among those working towards resolving the issue, with complaints from its wi-fi and cellular internet users about the unusually sluggish speeds circulating on social media.
“We have experienced an outage on one of the undersea cables that deliver internet traffic in and out of the country. We have since activated redundancy measures to minimise service interruption and keep you connected as we await the full restoration of the cable,” Safaricom said in a notice in the evening.
“You may, however, experience reduced internet speeds.”
Liquid Telecom’s Group Chief Technology and Innovation Officer, Ben Roberts, also reported faults in the Eastern Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy) and the Seacom cables.
“All sub-sea capacity between East Africa and South Africa is down. EASSy Cable – fault confirmed. Seacom Cable – observing fault that occurred at the same time,” he said in a social media post.
He added that three other key submarine cables in the Red Sea, Seacom, EIG, and AAE1, also had unrepaired cuts.
