West Africa back online as Sat-3 cable is repaired

18 August 2009

West Africa is back online after the fibre optic cable that supplies it with broadband was fixed.

At the end of July, the line - which runs from Europe to South Africa - experienced a fault and there was a blackout of internet services in Togo, Benin and Niger. It also disturbed an estimated 70 per cent of Nigeria's provision.

It is not yet clear what caused the problem but a ship was diverted from Cape Town to repair it two days ago, the BBC said.

Banks, businesses, schools and homes all went without a connection and it is thought to have crippled some firms that rely on the web.

During the blackout, some critics said cables such as Sat-3 needed to be better organised via strategy and policy at government level due to the potential effects of technical problems.

Business Day Online said Lanre Ajayi, president of the Nigeria Internet Group, has urged for the fibre optic line to be declared critical national infrastructure.

Category: ICT