The Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) has confirmed that the operators negatively impacted by the submarine cable cuts are actively engaged in efforts to restore connectivity.
The telecom regulator made this disclosure in a statement signed by the Director, Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka, on Thursday.
The NCC identified cables affected to include West African Cable System and African Coast to Europe, along with SAT3 and MainOne.
The regulator attributed the disruptions to incidents in Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal, resulting in subsequent disruptions in Portugal.
The commission noted similar challenges along other undersea cable routes, such as Seacom, Europe India Gateway, and Asia-Africa-Europe 1, which also experienced cuts.
The regulator stated, ” Similar undersea cables providing traffic from Europe to the East Coast of Africa, like Seacom, Europe India Gateway, and Asia-Africa-Europe 1, were said to have been cut at some point around the Red Sea, resulting in the degradation of services across these routes.”
Telecom users faced severe difficulties on Thursday with many taking to social media to express their frustration.
Calls and internet connectivity were negatively impacted, just as many banks also experienced downtime.
Despite the setbacks, the NCC assured the public that cable operators have initiated repair efforts, with services gradually being restored.
The commission stated, “Operators of these cables have commenced repairs already, and services are gradually being restored. They have promised to work around the clock to ensure that services are restored to the affected countries within the shortest possible time.
“It is important to bring this information to the knowledge of corporations and consumers on these services.”
Earlier, MTN Nigeria, the leading telecommunications provider in the country, acknowledged the situation and appealed to its subscribers.
The company also assured them that it was making efforts to resolve the issue and restore services as quickly as possible.
It would be recalled that a similar issue occurred recently where major operators across the country, including MTN, Airtel, and 9mobile, grappled with a widespread network connection crisis.
But at the time the problem was traced to road contractors who damaged buried infrasctuture during road maintenance activities.
